The Lion and the Mouse
by sakurai-chan
Summary: [AU] Riku is a viscious gang member, Sora is a timid high school student. When Sora rescues Riku from a life threatening experience, they become a little closer than others might like... yaoi RS,LC,WT
1. The Mouse

The Lion and the Mouse-

Summary-

( AU) Riku is a vicious gang member, Sora is a timid high school student. When Sora saves Riku from a life threatening experience, they become a little closer than others might like...

Shounen-ai RikuxSora, LeonxCloud

I don't know much about gangs, so if you read something that sounds like it's been made up, it's probably because it was. If you have any suggestions about them, tell me!.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts... if I did, there would be waaay more shounen ai!

Ch. One: The Mouse-

Sora gazed at himself in his fill length mirror. He sighed and buckled his black overalls over his white t-shirt. He was never going to get used to wearing long pants. He and his family had just moved from the Destiny Island to Traverse Town. Right away, Sora could tell that he was going to miss wearing his bright colored jumpers and sandals everyday.

Sora's dad was a respected surgeon, and was offered a better job in Traverse Town. So, Sora, his brother and sister, and their maids Lulu and Aerith packed up and left for a new life.

It was Sora's first day of the tenth grade at a new high school. His cousin Tidus was coming over to walk him there. Sora's dad had offered a limo ride for all of them, but they refused to show up at a new school looking like a bunch of rich, spoiled brats.

Sora grabbed his backpack and headed out of his large bedroom. He came into the hallway and began to descend down the spiral staircase.

Their new house was enormous! Sora had gotten lost twice the first time they moved in. He hated it. He liked their island home a lot better.

" Meep meep! Coming through!"

Sora screamed and leapt out of the way just as his older sister Rikku charged past him and down the stairs.

" Slow down!" Sora yelled after her.

Rikku turned around and began walking backwards down the stairs. She stuck her tongue out at her younger brother.

" Watch out!" Sora warned as she came close to the end.

Rikku took the warning too late and stumbled back. " Woah! Ahh!"

She was saved by a pair of strong arms. Sora sighed in relief when he saw Rikku's twin holding her

" Watch yourself, little sis," said Cloud to his younger twin.

She grinned and jumped out of his arms. " I'm just so excited! Going to new places is so much fun!"

Sora rolled his eyes and joined his brother at the bottom of the stairs. He looked at Rikku and said, " Don't you miss your friends?"

Rikku nodded. " Yeah... but that's no reason for me to shut myself up in a box."

Sora looked down and away from her. She was right...

Cloud gave him a pat on the back. " Hey, it's alright Sora. We know it can be a bit scary at times, you know... going to new places and all..."

Sora pulled away from Cloud's hand. " It's not that! I'm not scared! It's just... just..." He looked down. He didn't want to admit what he was afraid of the most.

" Just what?" asked Rikku in a concerned tone.

Sora was a shy person. Making new friends was hard for him-- in fact, he only had a few friends back on the island. That was only because he had known them since kindergarten. Since then, he hadn't made any new friends. His timidness even caused him to be bullied. He looked back up. " I'm just nervous, okay?"

Rikku and Cloud just looked at him, then at each other.

" I mean..." Sora continued, " What if I get a teacher who hates me? Or...or...or what if I fail a class?!"

Cloud was about to say something when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see his father standing next to him.

" Daddy!" Rikku cried, throwing her arms around her Father's neck.

Setsuna laughed and patted Rikku's head of blonde hair, then he looked to Sora.

" Sora, as long as you keep up the excellent grades, you have nothing to be afraid of."

Sora was going to say something until Cloud cut in.

" You're a straight A's student, Sora," Cloud reminded him. " A new school will make no difference."

Sora wasn't so sure about that. He shrugged and looked away again.

" There's another thing," Rikku pipped up. " You look down too much... keep your chin up and no one can bother you!"

Sora looked up and smiled brightly.

Their father nodded in agreement and faced Rikku. " That's the exact kind of thing your mother would say..." he whispered, smiling sadly.

Rikku grinned, proud of herself.

Just then, Lulu entered the entry way from the kitchen. " Are you guys eating this morning, or not?"

Sora's stomach growled loudly as a response, causing him to blush with embarrassment. He gave a sheepish grin to everyone staring at him.

Lulu laughed lightly. " I'll take that as a yes." She walked back into the kitchen while lifting her dress off the ground.

Setsuna gasped and looked at his wrist watch. " You three better go and eat! Cousin Tidus will be here any second to pick you guys up!"

Rikku and Sora raced each other to the kitchen while Cloud lagged behind with his father.

Cloud pouted. " I miss my car..."

" Come on son," Setsuna coaxed, " Be a man. Your car will be here in a few days."

" They better be taking good care of her, or else!" Cloud said to his dad.

Setsuna laughed before glancing at his watch again. He gasped. " I've gotta get to work! Can't be late on my first day!" He gave Cloud a quick hug before running into the kitchen. He emerged shortly after with a piece of toast in his mouth and holding his briefcase.

Lulu ran after him holding out his jacket. She helped him put it on and opened the door for him.

Setsuna darted out waving. " I'll see you later on tonight! Cloud, look after your brother and sister!" He jumped into his red, glossy car and speed off down the street.

Cloud waved after him and closed the door.

Not long after he did close it was there a rapid knocking on the door.

Lulu came in to open it and looked out. " Tidus! Good to see you!"

Tidus stepped into the luxurious house, grinning broadly. " Hey Lu! How's it going?" He looked around the large entry way, nodding with approval. " Nice place..."

Lulu smiled and started for the kitchen. " I'll get the others for you."

After Lulu was out of sight, Tidus took in his breath and braced himself.

" TIDDLES!!!"

Tidus looked towards the heavens. " Lord, be withe me..."

Rikku scrambled around the corner and practically lunged at Tidus, latching herself to her cousin's arm. " Wow, Tiddy! You sure have grown since the last time I've sen you! But you're still as adorable as ever!"

Tidus rolled his eyes before looking down to give his captor a smile. " Hey Rikku..." he said while trying to pull away from her grasp.

" Let his arm breathe, Rikku!" Cloud said as he made his way over to the two. He tapped his fist against Tidus' free one. "Good to see you Tidus. I see you've gotten taller." He smirked a Tidus' expression. Cloud always used to make fun of Tidus' height when they were younger.

" Hey Cloud," Tidus said. He looked around him to see Sora walking over to them. " Sora!"

Sora grinned and ran over to Tidus to give him a hug. " Tidus! How's it been going? You on the Blitzball team yet?"

Tidus jabbed a thumb at himself. " Me? You know it! Oh! And wait 'till you meet the others! They're really excited to meet you. I've told them so much about you! I swear Sora, you're going to love it at Traverse Town High! And...um...er..." He trailed off and stared at Sora's clothing. " W-what are you wearing?"

Sora blinked and stared blankly at the blonde. " What... do you mean?"

Tidus dug his hands in his hair and began panting loudly. " Oh man- I should have called you last night to tell you what to wear!"

Sora balled his fists at his sides. " What's wrong with what I'm wearing?!"

Tidus pointed at hi accusingly. " You're wearing black and white! You can't wear black and white together! All black: fine. All white: cool, but never together! Not at our school at least!"

" WHY?!" The three siblings asked in unison.

" Oblivion!" Tidus cried. He looked at his digital wrist watch. " No time to change," he said frantically. He took off his jean jacket and handed it to Sora. " Here, wear this. Just... zip it up."

Sora began to protest.

" Look! I'll explain later! Let's just go!" Tidus opened the door and motioned for everyone to go outside.

The three siblings grabbed their backpacks and fallowed their cousin out of the door.

Sora still didn't understand why Tidus was so hysterical. What was wrong with black and white? He didn't know, but he zipped up Tidus' jacket anyways. Tidus said he would explain later.

Tbc

R&R See you again in chapter two : The Lion .


	2. The Lion

The Lion and the Mouse-

Hi again! Thank you to all of my nice reviewers! I really appreciate it! I was waiting until I got 10 reviews to update and I got 10! I'm so happy! Okay, anyways, time to meet the lion!

Disclaimer: Me no own Kingdom Hearts or any of the FF's!

Ch. Two: The Lion-

" Riku! Get your ass out here right now or you'll be late for school!"

Riku removed his headphones from his ears when he heard his mother's cry. He couldn't believe that his mother's voice was so loud, it could be heard over his loud, rap music. ( AN: I hate rap... . )

" Now Riku!" she called once more.

Riku scowled and sat up from bed. " Alright! I'm coming, you bitch! Stop yelling already!"

The silver-haired teen grabbed his black jacket and slipped it on over his white shirt. Then he placed his black baseball cap sidewards on his head. He didn't even bother to take his backpack.

He left his limiting bedroom and came into the family room of their meager apartment. To Riku, it seemed more like a rathole- junk was everywhere.

On the couch, his mom sat, smoking a cigarette and watching television.

Riku shook his head shamefully and started for the door.

" Aren't you even going to have some breakfast?" his mom called, not even looking away from the T.V.

Riku scoffed in irritation. " Give me a break. You can't cook, and you know I can't cook. Don't start that shit with me this morning."

His mother glanced at him over her shoulder. " My, my, aren't we quite bitchy today." She took anther puff on her cigarette. " At least have some cereal."

Riku sighed in defeat before going into their tiny kitchen. He opened the cabinet and searched the shelves for some cereal. He finally found it and took it out of the cabinet.

He shoved his hand into the already opened box and took a handful of the cereal pieces. He popped a few in his mouth, but he spit them out shortly after. " Agh! It's stale!"

His mother placed a finger to her chin. " I suppose we should go food shopping..."

Riku rolled his eyes. He had been down this road plenty of times before. Usually, "we" meant " him, and only him".

" Riku, look in the cookie jar and get some money. Go to the grocery store after school and get some more food."

"Damn," said Riku. He reached into the cookie jar and pulled out the last one hundred dollar bill. It was all they had left.

He looked at his lazy mother and said, " Shouldn't you be at work?"

She took one last puff on her cigarette before putting it out in her ash tray. " Got fired," she said simply.

Riku's eyes widened. " What?! Why?! When?!"

She shrugged. " They said I was being lazy. They fired me about a few weeks ago."

"Oh..." said Riku quietly. No wonder their money was running so low. " Well, where have you been going for the past few weeks?" he asked her, suspicion hanging on every word.

She chuckled. " What do you think?"

" I'm thinking... I don't wanna know," Riku decided. He tucked the money away in his jacket pocket and headed once again for the door. " See ya moms. I've gotta jet."

She waved lazily at him before lighting another cigarette.

Riku scoffed again before walking outside and closing the door behind him.

He walked calmly down the street for a while until he was attacked from behind and put in a swift headlock.

He know the hold all too well and figured out who his captor was instantly.

" Zell! I know it's you! Let go of me right now!" Riku yelled, pawing at his friend.

The blonde just grinned. " Come on, Riku! You don't remember how to get out of a headlock? Didn't I teach you that?"

Riku sighed and did a technique called headlock A on his " captor". [ 1 ]

Zell smiled and did the Oblivion handshake with his fellow gang member.

Not only was Zell Riku's best friend, but he was also the leader of their gang-- Oblivion.

People feared them. They even feared wearing their gang colors, black and white, because they knew they would get a beat down if they did.

Riku liked having this kind of power. It was almost like he was king of the school. He could do almost anything he wanted to anyone and get away with it, because he knew they wouldn't tell. If they did, they'd probably end up having a bad accident.

The Oblivion gang consisted of five people, including Riku and Zell. The other three were Axel ( AN: The red-headed guy from KH2), Seymour ( AN: KH Seymour!), and Vincent.

There used to be seven members-- Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almsy were the last two.

Leon left because as far as Riku was concerned, he was a traitor. Leon quit because he said he wanted to make something of his life. _Whatever..._

But for Seifer, it was a totally different story

He was killed by another gang- shot, right through the heart. It might as well have been his heart, because when Leon left, Seifer was heart broken.

He used to be the leader of the gang, and since Zell was his little brother, he took over being leader-- even though he was much younger than everyone else.

Zell was so upset about his brother's death that he got a black teardrop tattooed under the corner of his left eye. It symbolized the pain he would forever feel in his heart.

Riku sighed. " So man, you ready for another year of nosy teachers who give us homework because they can't teach us enough during the day?"

Zell laughed at his friend's comment. " Yeah. I'm cool, I guess. But you know how we do the school year..."

Riku smiled and continued for him. " Yeah: Go one week, skip the next, go one week, skip the next..."

Zell laughed some more. " You know it, man!" As he laughed, Riku couldn't help but notice the black teardrop.

" Hey man..." Riku called quietly. " You still thinking about how to avenge your brother?"

Zell stopped laughing and looked away. " Yeah, still thinking..."

Riku mentally scolded himself. ' Real good way to start off the school year, Riku!' He placed a hand on Zell's shoulder, trying to comfort him. " Hey, look... sorry I brought it up..."

" It's cool, bro," Zell assured him with a small smile on his face. " Don't worry about it."

Riku nodded and said, " _You _don't think about it. Let's focus on the _exciting _new year with _exciting _new people!" He faked enthusiasm for his friend, but groaned shortly after when they came around the corner and saw their school building.

" You mean, ' new _meat' -- _and speaking of which..." Zell trailed off and pointed on the other side of the street. " Check it out."

Approaching the school was Tidus, along with his three cousins.

" I know the short blonde," Riku said, remembering Tidus from freshman year. " That kid is so damn annoying..."

" Wait, wait," Zell ordered him while trying to get a better look. " Who are the other three?"

" New faces," Riku said with interest. " Looks like two new blondes, and a..." His heart seemed to skip a beat when he saw the timid looking boy. He stared with a slightly opened mouth as he inspected him.

The boy had chestnut colored hair and sapphire blue eyes. His spiky hair framed his heart shaped face with beauty. The boy's skin was evenly tanned. ' He's probably from the islands,' Riku thought. ' He's beautiful... he looks so smart.'

The boy did look like an intellectual.

" He looks smart," Zell said about the brunette.

He noticed too? Did that mean that he was thinking the same things that Riku was?

" Yeah," Riku said, shrugging. He tried to play it off like he didn't think the boy was attractive.

" Maybe we can make him help us with some stuff..." Zell suggested.

" You mean like, making him do our homework?" asked Riku.

Zell shook his head. He grinned and licked his lips. " No, man. I was thinking something waaaayyyy different."

Riku pushed him. " Perv!"

Zell laughed before looking towards the boy again. " Keep an eye on him for me. Let everyone know that he's off limits until further notice."

' Off limits...' Riku thought miserably. Never the less, Riku was ready to fallow his leader's first given command of the year. " You got it," he said.

Riku stared at the boy until his gaze caused him to look up. Their eyes met for the first time.

Sora didn't like the look Riku was giving him. It was like a lion, ready to pounce on its prey.

tbc

[1] About that... well I take karate and headlock A is a technique they teach you in your white belt. It's what you use to get out of a side headlock, so yeah...

Anyways...

Please review. See you again in chapter three: The Lion's Wrath.

TTFN!


	3. The Lion's Wrath

The Lion and the Mouse-

Hello! Ogenki desu ka? Thank you to all of my reviewers! You're all so nice! Everyone kept saying that my chapters were short. I forgot to tell you that the first few chapters weren't going to be that long, but this one is longer. And I might not be updating as quickly because not only did I just start 10th grade, but I'm also trying to finish an original story that I made up. It might take a few more weeks for me to update. Until then, enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own kingdom hearts or any of the final fantasy characters!

Chapter Three: The Lion's Wrath-

Sora didn't like the way the boy was looking at him-- although he did like the way the boy looked. His hair was so beautiful and radiant. Sora wondered if he really had silver hair or if it was really a bright blonde-- so bright that it looked silver. It probably glowed, but Sora couldn't tell because of that ridiculous, black baseball cap. ...Wait...black?

Sora looked at the rest of the boy's clothes to see that he was wearing black and white, and so was the other boy next to him.

'What the heck?' Sora thought. Didn't Tidus just say that wearing black and white was dangerous? Then what was going on? And when was Tidus going to explain?

Then, as if his cousin read his mind, Tidus came up from behind Sora and placed his hands on his shoulders. " They're the reason why you can't wear black and white together," He said to him, nodding toward the two boys across the street.

" Them?" asked Sora, looking to Tidus with a brow raised.

Tidus nodded once. " They're part of a gang called Oblivion," he began, " And their colors are black and white. If they see anyone wearing those colors here, they'll kill you..."

Sora gulped and hugged himself. " Kill . . . you . . . ?"

The blonde removed his hands from Sora's shoulders. " Well maybe not kill you, but they'd hurt you good."

Rikku and Cloud, who were listening from behind, chose to speak up at that moment. " Oh . . . I see," Rikku said softly. " So that's why you were so nutty this morning."

Tidus just gave her a look of irritation.

Cloud smiled and said, " I'd say 'nutty' is an understatement."

" Shut up!" Tidus whined as he swatted Cloud in his shoulder. " I was only looking out for my cousin's best interests!"

Sora wasn't even listening to the three blondes squabbling behind him. He was still mesmerized by the fact that this gorgeous boy was staring at him. He wondered what his name was and what grade he was in.

He blushed when he realized that he was the one staring now. Quickly, he looked away and turned back to his cousin.

Tidus began walking to the entrance of the school and he gestured for the others to come with him. " Come on, guys. We've gotta hurry. I have to show you your locker, Sora."

Sora looked up at him. " Locker?" he demanded gently. He didn't remember signing up for a locker when he registered into the school.

Tidus clapped his hands together in realization and stopped walking. " Oh! I didn't tell you? I signed you up for a locker right next to mine," he said, answering Sora's question.  
  
" You did?" Sora asked happily. " Hey, thanks!"

Rikku tapped Tidus on the shoulder and waited for him to face her. " Ahem! What about us? Where's me and Cloud's locker?"

Tidus shrugged. " You guys aren't like Sora," he told her calmly. " You can get your own locker."

Sora made a threatening fist. " Hey! Are you trying to say that I'm helpless?!"

Tidus held up his hands while shaking his head. " N-no! Not at all!" He laughed when Sora lightly punched him in the shoulder.

Cloud just shook his head before glancing at the school entrance at the top of the stairs. " We should go in now. Rikku and I still have to get our lockers," he said, somewhat directing it toward Tidus.

" Ha, ha," Tidus said in mock amusement. He fallowed Cloud and Rikku up the stairs.

Sora looked back at the silver- haired boy one more time, then, he climbed up the stairs after Tidus and his siblings.

At the top of the stairs, in front of the main entrance, there was a fountain, spewing crystal clear from its marble top. Rikku stopped by the fountain and began digging in her pockets for spare change. She finally found a penny and held it close to herself before she it into the water.

Cloud gave her an amused look. " What did you wish for?"

" I can't tell you!" Rikku said, aghast. It sounded like that was absolutely, positively something he was supposed to know. " Or else it won't come true!"

Cloud rolled his eyes and entered the school with the others.

Sora murmured a sigh of admiration as he gazed around the long halls of his new high school. " It's so much bigger than Destiny High . . . " he said to Cloud and Rikku.

They nodded in agreement as they explored the halls with their eyes as well.

" Okay!" said Tidus, cheerily clapping his hands together once. " Cloud, Rikku. The administration office is that way . . . " he pointed down the hall to the right. " And Sora, our lockers are this way." He pointed straight down the hall in front of them.

Cloud and Rikku began walking down the hall to the administration office.

Rikku turned and blew her cousin a friendly kiss. " Thanks Tiddles!!" she said, loud enough for the whole hallway to hear.

Tidus' cheeks turned pink when a few kids in the hallway snickered at the nickname his cousin so affectionately gave him. He cleared his throat and motioned for Sora to fallow him down the hallway. " Come on Sora . . . this way."

Sora fallowed Tidus down the hall until they came to the first group of lockers

" Here's your locker Sora," Tidus told him, gesturing to one of the lockers in the middle. It was just the right height for Sora- not too low, and not too high. It was perfect. Tidus finished and said, " Right next to mine . . . " He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. " And here's your combination. Oh! And I got you a red lock because I know it's your favorite color." He fingered the red combination lock on Sora's locker.

Sora smiled at him. " Thanks, cus'," he said gratefully.

Tidus grinned. " No prob. Now, I'm gonna go pick up a few books. You need me to pick you up some books while you get situated?"

Sora nodded while setting his backpack on the ground. " Um . . . yeah! Could you pick up my Biology book and my IMP 3 book? Please?"

" Sure," Tidus said as he started off. " I'll be back." He took off around the corner, leaving Sora to his locker.

He read his combination once and then tried it on his lock. It unlocked on his second try and he pulled his locker door open. It was a nice, clean one with a lot of space. Sora liked it already.

He unpacked some of his notebooks and placed them neatly on the locker's second shelf. Next, he took out a few pictures of him and his friends from back on the island that he had packed the previous night. He gazed fondly at the familiar images.

The first photograph was of him and his two best friends, Keoni and Botta. They were eating popscicles and had their flavors smeared all over their faces. Sora smiled at the sweet memory of eating popscicles on the beach, and then he taped the picture to the inside door panel of his locker.

The second picture was taken by a photographer at the Destiny Islands Shopping Mall. Sora and his two friends were sitting back to chest on a carved mahogany bench. Sora was in the middle, Botta was in front, and Keoni was in the back.

Sora had his arms wrapped possessively around Botta's waist and his head resting tenderly on his back. Keoni was doing the same to Sora while Botta rested his hands on Sora's.

When Sora had brought the photo home after taking it, Cloud said it looked awfully fruity. Rikku, however, thought it was quite adorable. Sora did kind of agree with Cloud, but after all, the photographer was a woman and she thought it looked cute.

Sora chuckled softly as he hung that picture under the last one.

As Sora was unpacking some of his school supplies, someone came and stood to his left. He couldn't see who it was though because the locker door was blocking the way. Sora didn't even bother looking. He just thought that it was someone with their locker next to his-- but it became clear when the person began talking.

" Hey, Ti!" They said enthusiastically. " How was your last month of summer? I haven't seen you in that time! Ah well! Anyways, I found this great place for Blitzball equipment, ya! Maybe we could head over after school?"

'Hm?' Sora thought, pausing momentarily from his task. ' Is he talking to me?' Sora peeked around his locker door until his eyes met those of a tall, redheaded boy with tanned skin.

The boy stopped speaking and blinked a few times at Sora. " Oh. You're Tidus . . . wow, freaky . . . I mean . . . Sorry . . . " he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

Tidus came back and laughed when he saw the tanned boy. " Wakka!" he called, running over to him.

Sora watched with growing curiosity as they did some sort of secret handshake.

" Tidus!" the boy cried happily. " I haven't seen you in a month! You been doin' well?"

" You know it!" Tidus told him, grinning broadly. They laughed some more before Tidus turned and saw the questioning look Sora was giving him.

" Oh!" Tidus gasped in realization. " I almost forgot! Sora, this is my best friend Wakka. Wakka, meet my cousin Sora!"

" Hi!" Sora said, giving Wakka a cheery smile.

Wakka shook his hand. " Oh, so you're the one who Tiddy has told me so much about."

Tidus gasped silently before kicking Wakka in the shoe. " Wakka! I told you not to call me that in public!"

' In public?' Sora thought. ' He let's Wakka call him that . . . ?'

" Well, why not?" Wakka inquired, smirking at him. " You said your other cousin calls you that all the time. Let's see . . . and what were the others . . . ?"

Tidus was about to tell Wakka to shove it when Sora cut in.

" Let's see . . . " he began, " She calls him Tiddles, Tiddy-widdy, Tiddle-kins . . . and . . . uh . . . " Sora cocked his head in thought. " I forgot the other one. I think it was . . . "

" TIDDY-RUMPSKIN!!"

Sora's face lit up. " Yeah! That's right!"

Just then, Rikku skipped around the corner with Cloud close behind. She clung to Tidus' arm, smiling broadly.

Tidus just pointed at her. " This is my other cousin Rikku, not a zoo animal, in case you were wondering," he told Wakka.

Wakka laughed and looked to Cloud.

" And this is Cloud," Tidus said, gesturing to his last cousin.

Cloud and Wakka exchanged greetings while shaking hands.

Then Wakka looked at Rikku again. " Ya know . . . she kind of reminds me of somebody . . . like . . . um . . . "

" TIDDLE-CHAN!!"

Sora looked around Wakka to see a blur of yellow and brown fly past and attach itself to Tidus' other arm.

" Oh . . . GOD, no!" Tidus groaned, raising his head to look at the ceiling.

" Selphie!" Wakka realized. " That's who she reminds me of!"

Rikku peered around Tidus and met the large, emerald green eyes of Selphie.

" Hi, I'm Selphie," she said.

Rikku smiled. " I'm Rikku. I'm Tiddle-Kins' favorite cousin."

" Tiddle-Kins! That's a good one!" Selphie said, giggling.

Another voice rang through the halls then. " Selphie! Slow down! You run too fast!" A girl with dark red hair came around the corner from where Selphie did and stopped next to Wakka. She blushed when she saw Sora.' Oh, he's cute . ..'

" Hi," Sora said to the newcomer.

" Hi . . . " she echoed, pushing a lock of her red hair behind her ear and looking away shyly.

Tidus looked back down from the ceiling. " Kairi, Selphie, these are my three cousins. Ya know? The ones from Destiny Islands. That's Cloud, Rikku and Sora." He nodded towards each of them instead of pointing because of the two rabid animals latched to his arms.

" How do you do?" Cloud joked, giving Kairi a small bow.

Kairi giggled with a hand over her mouth. " I'm fine, thank you."

Sora smiled to himself. He had never been surrounded by this many people in his life. He liked it. Maybe he didn't have to be afraid of making new friends after all. But there still was the issue of making new enemies.' All I have to do is keep my mouth shut and there's no way I can get into any trouble.'

" Guys," Wakka called. " We have five minutes before the first bell rings. We should get going."

Cloud pried Riku off of Tidus' arm. " Come on, Rikku. Our class is this way."

" Okay!" Rikku said grinning. " Bye Sora, Tiddles, Selphie, Kairi, and Wakka! See you at lunch!" Rikku seemed to have said that all in one breath.

Sora waved to his retreating siblings' backs.

Selphie left too for her first class, but not before calling Tidus one last cutesy name.

Tidus blushed with embarrassment and made a pouting face.

Wakka laughed. " That's cute, ya," he said, smiling down at Tidus.

Sora chuckled a bit when he saw Tidus face turn a few shades redder.

" S-so, Sora . . . w-what's your first class?" Tidus asked, trying to change the subject.

" Jewelry 1," Sora told him.

Kairi looked up suddenly. " Hey, that's my first class too."

" Cool," said Tidus. " You two can walk together."

Sora looked to Tidus and stuck out his lower lip. He was a little scared to leave his cousin's side. He had been so helpful.

" Hey . . . it's okay Sora," Tidus said softly. " Kairi, will you make sure Sora gets to his first class safely?"

Kairi gave Tidus a nod before smiling at Sora. " Come on Sora. It's this way."

Sora said goodbye to Tidus and Wakka before fallowing Kairi down the hall.

He hugged himself as he gazed at all of the big teenagers. Some of them looked so mean. ' This is scary,' he thought. He had never been so nervous before in his life.

" So . . . " he heard Kairi begin. " You like making jewelry too?"

" Yeah," he answered while nodding. " My mom used to do it all the time. She made me this necklace . . . " He reached down his borrowed jacket to show Kairi the necklace when he realized it wasn't there. He gave her an apologizing look. " Sorry. I guess I must have been so nervous, I forgot to put it on, but it's a really beautiful silver chain with a silver crown at the end. She carved my name in the back."

" Sounds beautiful," Kairi murmured.

It wasn't long before they reached their classroom.

" Here we are," Kairi announced. She motioned for Sora to come inside with her, and he did.

No sooner did Sora take his seat did his thoughts flood back over to the silver-haired boy. ' I wonder if he's in any of my classes . . . '

Meanwhile . . .

Riku and Zell approached the last members of their gang, who were leaning against the wall, in the shadows of their school.

Axel was smoking and Vincent had his arms crossed, while Seymour inspected his fingernails.

Axel looked up when he saw Riku and Zell coming their way. He removed his cigarette from his mouth and threw it to the ground, stomping it out with one twist of his boot.

" Good morning boys," Zell greeted once he reached them.

" Zell, Riku," Axel said, giving each one of them the Oblivion handshake. " Been doin' good?"

" As good as it's gonna get," Zell admitted. He stood next to Axel and rested his foot on the wall. " Anything new with you?"

Axel gave a look of annoyance and shrugged. " Eh. Same ol' shit as always . . . " he complained while rolling his eyes.

Seymour gave a small chuckle from his spot on the wall. " Oh, do be quiet, Axel," he said in a very polite manner. " You whine and complain every year, and frankly, I'm quite tired of it."

Axel growled while grinding his teeth and making a fist. " Shut the fuck up!" he yelled angrily at him.

The blue-haired teen just gave a soft laugh as he did the Oblivion handshake with Riku and then with his leader.

Zell gave a quick nod to Vincent. " Yo Vince. How about you?"

Vincent shrugged and then gave Zell and Riku the gang handshake. " Nothing interesting happened to me this summer. No drive-by shootings or nothing."

Riku hissed a laugh while turning his head to the side.

" Well," Zell began while grinning. " I can already tell that this year is going to be an exciting year."

Seymour gave him an interested look. " Oh really? How so?"

" Found myself a new target," the blonde answered. He folded his arms behind his head.

Riku's breath hitched. He realized that Zell was talking about the beautiful blue- eyed boy that they just saw.

Axel gave a long sigh. " Who is it this time?" he asked, giving Zell and unsure look.

Zell smiled at all of them. " He's a really cute boy . . . "

'Beautiful,' Riku corrected him in his thoughts.

Zell continued. " And he has brown hair and blue eyes . . . "

Riku mentally corrected him again. ' Chestnut and sapphire . . . ' Why was his vocabulary suddenly so . . . descriptive? He usually didn't speak like that . . . in fact. He never did. He was such a poor student, but especially in English. Why was this boy changing him like this?

" He's kind of scrawny," Zell told them, bringing Riku out of his thoughts. Zell made a suggestive smirk. " He looks easy to throw down too, if you know what I mean . . . "

Axel gave a throaty laugh while nudging Zell in the ribs.

Riku just scowled and looked away from them. This wasn't fair. Just because Zell was the leader, he could have dibs on whatever person he wanted.

' But why did it have to be him?!' Riku screamed in his head, his eyebrows drawing together.

Vincent uncrossed his arms and stretched when heard the first bell ring, warning them to get to class. " Looks like it's time to get to first period," he said.

Zell gave one slow nod, dismissing everyone. " See you all at lunch. Oh, and Riku, I'll see you in fourth."

" World History," Riku reminded him with no excitement what-so-ever.

" Aren't you just so happy?" Axel mocked in a singsong voice.

Riku flipped him off with both hands. " Get the fuck to class."

Axel just grinned. " I don't have to listen to you. You ain't my boss."

Zell stepped up to Riku's side. " But I am. Get the fuck to class."

Axel grinned even wider and gave them the peace sign before running off.

Zell and Riku gave each other props before and then parted to go to their first period classes.

The beginning of 4th . . .

Sora wove his way in and out of the many high school students as he searched for his fourth period class. He finally found room 1307 on the third floor of the enormous high school.

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out again. " Word History . . . " he murmured. He watched a few students head inside of the classroom.

Sora took one more cleansing breath and hugged his binder close to his chest before walking in as well.

He gave a quick hello to his instructor, who was standing by her desk, greeting people as they came in. She instructed Sora to sit wherever he liked. He thanked her and silently took his seat in the second to the last row.

As he waited for the rest of the students to come in, he had time to reflect upon his earlier classes.' So far, so good,' he thought. All of his teachers were nice and fun to listen to. He hadn't made any enemies, nor had he made any new friends either-- he kept his mouth shut, just like he promised himself.

Sora wiped some sweat off of his nose. It was becoming a little stuffy. He reached up to unzip his jacket but stopped himself just in time. He almost forgot why he was wearing his cousin's jacket in the first place. ' Oblivion . . . '

Eventually, Sora's thoughts came back to the boy with the silver hair. Again, he wondered what grade he was in. He also wondered what he sounded like. ' Probably drop-dead sexy,' Sora suggested to himself. He blushed when he realized what he was thinking.

The last bell rang and Sora reached into his backpack to pull out his pencil. When he looked up again, his heart almost stopped.

He was looking into the aqua eyes of the silver-haired boy.

Sora blushed a bit and allowed his eyes to become suddenly interested on his binder.

Zell gave Riku a small nudge. " Yo, there he is!" he whispered in excitement.

Riku nodded slowly. " Yeah . . . there he is . . . "

Zell jerked his head towards the seats by Sora and began to walk over to them. Riku fallowed and took the desk next Sora and Zell sat behind Riku.

" Let the note-passing begin," Zell instructed Riku quietly.

Riku gave a soft okay as a reply. Writing notes to find out about Zell's crushes was his job. This time, it was actually going to be interesting. Riku wanted to know about this boy too.

Sora's stomach lurched with excitement and his face grew hot when Riku sat next to him. He didn't dare look over though, for fear of being caught staring. Then he would look like a blushing fool. So, he just focused his eyes ahead on the teacher, who was just beginning her first day of school lecture

After she introduced herself as Miss Soleil, she began taking role. "Please forgive me if I mispronounce your name," she apologized in advance and looked at her list of names.

' Yes!' Sora thought happily. ' This is the perfect way to find out what his name is without asking!'

Riku was thinking the same thing when the blonde behind him leaned in closer and whispered, " Listen closely for his name for when you write the note."

Riku nodded once and made ready to listen.

Miss Soleil began reading off the names and gave a friendly welcome to all that answered.

"Zell Almsy?" she called, looking around.

Zell held up a peace sign in reply.

Miss Soleil smiled and welcomed him. She read some more names , and Sora listened, biting on his pencil's eraser in anticipation.

" Riku Nomura?"

Sora almost choked when the silver-haired boy raised his hand.

" Yo," he said in a deep, smooth voice.

It was only one word, yet it almost made Sora melt. 'So that's his name... Riku...'

Miss Soleil called out a few more names before she came to Sora's. " Sora Skye?"

Sora meekly raised his hand. " Present," he answered softy.

Riku smiled to himself. 'Sora... cool...'

When Miss Soleil was finished reading off the names, she gave a short speech about herself , and then one about the class and what they should expect from it. She began passing out the class syllabus and asked the class to read it over while she entered the attendance into the computer.

When he was sure she wasn't looking, Zell tapped Riku on the shoulder twice-- a signal for him to begin..

Riku gave him a nod and waited until Miss Soleil was seated behind her computer. He ripped a good piece of the syllabus and scribbled down his first question. Then, he folded it up and threw it to Sora's desk.

Sora was a bit surprised when the folded up paper landed before him. He scanned the room, trying to figure out from where the note came from. He searched until his eyes met Riku's spellbinding ones. Riku was leaning back in his chair, smirking at Sora, then, he winked at him.

Sora blushed and looked back down. He opened the note as silently as he could and then read its message:

_Yo, Sora was it?_ _Hey, my friend wants to know...do you have a girlfriend? _

Sora blushed even more then wrote his reply. Then he folded it back up and threw it to Riku.

Riku caught it in his hand and then read it. He read Sora's answer:

_No._

Riku smiled and wrote a second message. He made sure Miss Soleil wasn't looking when he threw it back on Sora's desk.

Sora opened it and read it again:

_Cool. What about a boyfriend?_

The brunette's face was almost as red as a cherry lollipop. He wrote his reply again and then threw it back to Riku, who caught it again.

Riku read Sora's answer:

_No. Why?_

Riku wrote down an answer and passed it again.

_My friend wants to know. He's the guy behind me._

Sora looked behind Riku to see the guy he was talking about. ' Oh yeah,' he thought. ' That guy.' Sora wrote something else and passed it back.

Riku read it again:

_ Why? Is he too lazy to write his own notes? _

The gangster gave Sora a small angry look which made the brunette shiver. Riku wrote down an answer and then threw it back.

_It's my job_, was all it said. Sora wasn't satisfied. He wrote something else and passed it over.

_Your job? What do you mean?_

Riku gave a small scoff and then scribbled his last question.

_Never mind_, it said. _Just one more thing. The guy behind_ _me, do you think he's cute_?

Sora couldn't believe it! He blushed as he wrote his last reply.

_Sort of... I guess. Yeah..._

Riku gave Sora a nod and then passed the note to Zell so he could read it. Zell seemed thoroughly pleased.

Oh how Riku wished that those answers that Sora had given were for him and only him. He sighed quietly.

Sora wasn't quite sure of what he had just done, but he was a little nervous. Why would that Zell guy want to know all of those things about him?

An hour later...

Fourth period ended and students began packing up their stuff and heading out of the class to go to lunch.

Sora quickly put his things into his backpack and started for the exit. He didn't want to risk having to talk wit the two Oblivion gang members. He was too shy and absolutely too scared. He swung his backpack over his shoulder and left.

Riku and Zell tried to run after him, but were stopped by Miss Soleil.

" Gentlemen..." she began in a warning tone.

The two boys turned to face her. " Yes?" they said at the same time.

" Please pull up your pants," she commanded them nicely. " No one wants to see the color of your underwear."

Riku and Zell groaned as they did what the teacher asked them to. After they pulled up their sagging pants, ( A.N.: I don't know how boys walk with their pants like that...), they left the room in search of Sora.

By the time they were out of the classroom, Sora had disappeared into the crowd of many students.

"Dammit," Riku muttered and Zell echoed with, "Fuck..."

They looked at each other and grinned, then they pulled their pants back down so that they were sagging again. After that, they began their trek to the lunch room.

Lunch...

Sora held his lunch tray tightly as he gazed around the cafeteria for anyone he knew. He was afraid he was going to have to sit alone if he didn't find someone soon. Then someone answered his prayers by calling his name.

"Sora!" they yelled, and Sora instantly recognized the voice as his sister's.

Sora turned around and gave a relieved smile when he saw Rikku waving wildly at him, trying to get his attention.

" Over here!" She called. The others from that morning were sitting with her, along with two new others. They all gave Sora welcoming smiles.

Sora walked over to them and took a seat in between Tidus and Cloud.

" Hey buddy," Cloud said, ruffling his brother's hair. "I thought I was going to have to come looking for you."

Sora playfully pushed at Cloud's hand. " I'm not a baby anymore," he reminded him.

Rikku threw a carrot at Cloud's head, and he turned to give her an annoyed look.

" I want to introduce Sora to my new friends now!" she told him, smiling.

Cloud scowled at her and stared sipping on his milk.

Rikku gestured to the two girls sitting next to her. " Sora, meet my two new friends, Yuna and Riona."

Sora smiled at them. " Hi," he said.

Yuna bowed at him with her head. " Pleased to meet you."

Riona gave him a friendly smile. " Hello."

Tidus turned to face Sora. " So Sora did you make any new friends today?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. " Well sort of..." he told him.

Tidus grinned. " Really? Who?"

Sora mumbled something that was inaudible.

" What was that, ya?" Wakka asked, leaning back to look at Sora.

Sora blushed as he poked at his lunch. " Well... I-I sort of passed notes with...Riku Nomura..."

Everyone at the lunch table gasped.

" I can't believe someone has the same as me!" Rikku cried in disbelief.

Everyone sweat dropped.

Tidus had his hand pressed to his forehead. " Rikku, you're missing the point. Riku Nomura is a member of the Oblivion gang! Sora! I thought I told you that!"

Sora ran his finger over the wrapper of his cheeseburger. " Well... he threw it first... and.. I .. Ur..."

" Well now I see!" Selphie interjected. She was standing up and looking across the room. " Zell's checkin' you out!"

Everyone turned and looked to where Selphie was.

Kairi placed a hand over her mouth. " Oh my gosh... he is!"

Zell was sitting at a table not too far away, staring at Sora. Riku was too.

Wakka gave a worried laugh. " I see Zell has a new target..."

Cloud spit out his milk in surprise and it went all over Rikku. Cloud grinned nervously at her and then looked to Wakka. " What do you mean ' new target'?" he asked him.

Wakka explained to him that every year, Zell finds himself a new person to have a crush on. Then, after he gets what he wants from them, he dumps them.

Sora was really sacred after Wakka told them that. Right then and there, he wanted to go back home, back to the Destiny Islands with Keoni and Botta. Sora sighed and buried his face in his arms on the table.

After 6th ...

Sora had just finished Gym class. He splashed his face with water in the bathroom. He was so sweaty from trying to avoid that Riku kid. He was in his class again! Sora didn't know how he was going to survive with him in two of his classes. He sighed and slipped on Tidus' jacket. He swung his backpack onto his shoulder and started for the exit of the bathroom.

Suddenly, the bathroom door swung open and Sora moved in time so he wasn't hit. He gaped at the person who was coming in. Luckily, he had time to run into one of the bathroom stalls before the newcomer saw him.

Riku wiped the sweat from his head with the back of his hand. Boy that kid was fast. Riku could never get two feet away from him before he ran off. Riku muttered a curse word and then turned on the cold water. He splashed his face a few times and gazed warily at the sink's drain.

Sora quietly opened the stall's door and tried to tip toe past Riku. When he was almost past him, Riku looked up and saw Sora in the mirror.

Sora stopped dead in his tracks like a deer caught in headlights. That's when he realized he didn't zip up Tidus' jacket. He turned around Quickly, just in time before Riku even noticed that he was wearing their gang colors.

Riku smirked and shifted around so that he was looking at Sora. " Hey," He said in that deep, sexy voice that Sora had heard earlier. " I've been looking for you. I need to ask you a few more questions..."

Sora hid the white shirt as best he could. " Really? That's nice, but I have to be going now. Maybe you can ask me tomorrow?" he started for the exit again, but Riku stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

Sora spun around again, still determined to hide the shirt.

He heard Riku chuckle. " Wow, you're shy. Don't worry... I'm not going to hurt you... I promise..."

Sora gulped and then ran past Riku as fast as he could. " I have to go!"

Riku laughed again before he reached out and grabbed onto Sora's jacket sleeve, tying to pull him back. " No, wait. Don't!"

In a desperate attempt to escape, Sora wrenched away from Riku's hand. Unfortunately, this caused Tidus' jacket to slip off of him and into Riku's grasp.

Riku gasped when he saw what Sora was wearing. He glared angrily at him at took a few steps forward. " You better have a good explanation for this..." he whispered to a petrified Sora.

Sora stepped back some with a look of horror on his face. " I-I-I d-didn't k-know...I-I'm s-sorry...!"

Something inside of Riku snapped. It came from years of beating up people for wearing their colors. It was almost like he was possessed. He took one giant step and grabbed onto Sora shirt collar. He lifted him off of the ground slightly. " Bitch!!" he screamed at him.

Sora looked away in fear. " Please! Let me go!"

Riku threw Sora to the ground and kicked him in the side repeatedly. " You dirty, little bastard!" he growled at him. " No one ever gave you permission to wear our colors!"

Sora was yelping in pain each time Riku kicked him. Then Riku crouched down and lifted his head buy his shirt. He slapped Sora hard across his face.

Sora was crying at that point. He pleaded for him to stop one more time as Riku made a fist.

Just as Riku threw his punch, he was pushed off of Sora by someone.

Sora looked up to see his big brother standing over him. ( A.N. : Cloud to the rescue!)

Riku jumped to his feet and glared evilly at Sora's savior. " Who are the hell are you?"

Cloud helped Sora to his feet and held him up with one hand while he used the other to hold Sora's backpack. Before he turned to leave, he gave Riku a stern look in the eyes.

"I'm his brother," Cloud said, and then he left with Sora.

Riku gave ferocious growl after they were gone. ' Damn that brat...' he muttered. ' He's gonna pay...'

tbc

Bad Riku! Bad! Don't worry, they won't stay enemies for long...

Awwww... looks like Kairi's got a crush on Sora... well that's just TOO BAD!!! 'cause he's all Riku's!

I bet ya you can't guess why Tidus lets Wakka call him Tiddy in Private...

Anyways, please review! See you again in chapter four: Zell's Offer.


	4. Zell's Offer

The Lion and The Mouse-

Hello! I want to thank all of my nice reviewers! I hope everyone likes this chapter too. It's going to be a short one... and I think the next will be too. After that, they should be longer. Well anyways... enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy.

Chapter 4: Zell's Offer-

Cloud took Sora to the nurse's office and got him some ice for his swollen, bleeding lip. Then, they went to Sora's locker to get his books so he could do his homework for the night.

Sora held the ice pack to his lip while his brother opened the locker for him.

"Thanks Cloud," said Sora. His fingers were numbing from the ice.

Cloud smiled at him. " Don't worry about it. I had a feeling you were in trouble when you didn't come right out."

Sora began packing the books he needed into his backpack and then Cloud spoke up.

" My locker's right around the corner," he told Sora. " Think you'll be okay until I get back?"

Sora shrugged. The incident with Riku was still burned in his mind. Every time he blinked, he could see Riku's blazing, aqua eyes. He shivered. " I don't know," he admitted. " What if he comes back?"

Cloud just smiled at him. " Don't worry. You can call for me if he does. Like I said, I'm only around the corner."

Sora sighed as he dropped his IMP 3 book into his backpack. " Fine," he said.

Cloud reminded Sora to call him if something happened before he disappeared around the corner.

Sora placed his ice pack on the ground and lifted his heavy world history book out of his locker and into his backpack.

Then, he reached up to close his locker when suddenly, it was slammed shut for him.

Sora's eyes widened in surprise and he gave a startled jump. He looked over to see who closed the locker. He felt his breath get caught in his throat when he met the eyes of the Oblivion gand leader.

Zell held up Sora's ice pack. " This yours?" he asked, smirking.

Sora grabbed the ice pack and swung his backpack onto his shoulder. " Thanks. . ." he muttered hoarsely.

Zell gazed at Sora's lip. " What happened to you?"

Sora gave him a half glance. "Oh. . . uh, I tripped and hurt myself in gym." Sora was relieved that Zell wasn't there to beat him up for wearing their colors.

Zell sighed. " Too bad you had to go and scratch up that pretty face of yours . . ." he said, eying Sora up and down.

Sora gulped and laughed nervously. " W-what do you want?"

Zell casually placed his hand against the lockers, leaning against them while grinning seductively. " I'm here to offer you a life at this school that will earn you safety and respect. All you have to do is accept one thing . . ."

" What would that be?" Sora asked, lifting his slipping backpack back onto his shoulder.

Zell's grin widened when he gave Sora his answer. " Me," he told him.

Sora gasped. " W-wha . . .?"

Zell sighed and then placed his hand lightly on Sora's hip. He cleared his throat and said,

" I, Zell Almsy, like you, Sora Skye. I want you to love me like how you love your books and your studies . . ."

Sora twirled away from Zell's hand in one smooth movement. " I-I don't think so," he said, a little more harshly than he expected. He turned to walk away, but Zell grabbed his wrist, preventing him to do so.

Zell's eyes had darkened. " No one says no to me . . ."

Sora just looked at him angrily. " Oh yeah?! Well, I guess I'm nobody, because that's exactly what I'm doing!"

Zell growled and grabbed onto Sora's shoulders and then slammed him against the lockers. He made a fist and Sora flinched and tightly shut his eyes, waiting for the blow.

He heard Zell chuckle and then cracked an eye open to see why.

Zell backed away from Sora, smirking. " Ya know . . . I'm not going to mess you up, I'm just going to make your life miserable until you give in and come crawling back to me, begging to take my offer."

Sora was breathing heavily with fear as he watched Zell walk backwards for a while and then turn around to walk away.

Sora let out his breath and turned to go find Cloud.

The two brothers walked for a while in silence before Sora spoke.

" Cloud?"

" Hm?

"Please don't tell dad what happened," he begged his big brother. " Promise?"

Cloud looked down at him and smiled, " I don't know Sora . . . I really think he should know-- "

" Promise!" Sora shouted frantically.

Cloud gently riffled Sora's hair and smiled when he heard Sora giggle. " Alright," he said. " I promise. It'll be our little secret."

Sora grinned up at him. " Thanks Cloud." He watched his bother smile as they continued walking home.

" Where's Rikku?" Sora asked after a while. He had thought for sure that his hyper sister would be jumping around right now, screaming about how good her day was.

" She went ahead with her two new friends," said Cloud. " When you didn't come out when you said you were, she left with Riona and Yuna."

" Oh," said Sora. Then he thought about his cousin. " What about Tidus?"

Cloud thought for a moment before he remembered. " Oh yeah. He went to some Blitzball place with his friend Wakka."

Sora sighed sadly. " Everyone's ditched me for their friends!"

Cloud laughed a bit. " I haven't."

Sora looked up at him in realization. " Yeah, huh! How come?"

Cloud shrugged. " I didn't meet anyone new today."

" Oh. . ." Sora murmured. He looked away and down at his feet as he took a few giant steps.

They made back to their enormous house safely and were greeted at the door by Aerith. She welcomed them in with a smile and a plate of cinnamon cookies.

Sora grinned widely and grabbed a handful of the cookies and ran into the family room screaming, " Mmmmm! Cinnamon! My favorite!"

Cloud smiled after him as Aerith took his jacket. " Thank you, Aerith," he said, smiling at her and taking a cookie.

She smiled back. " You're welcome, Master Cloud. How was your day at school?"

" It was okay," he told her, but remembering the danger that Sora was in after school. He bit into his cookie before running upstairs to his room. He vowed right then and there to protect Sora at all costs. ' No one will hurt him. . .'

Sora plopped onto the couch and grabbed the remote. He turned on the big screen t.v. and changed it to his favorite channel. He sat up with excitement when he saw what was on. " Alright! Rurouni Kenshin's on! Awesome!" He sat back with content and ate his cookies while he watched the show.

Right when it was getting good, the television went black.

Sora made a confused face and reached for the remote. He felt around for it until he figured out it wasn't there anymore.

He looked behind him to see Lulu standing there with the remote.

"Lulu!" Sora exclaimed.

Her cold facial expression didn't change. " You're father wanted me to remind you to practice your piano."

" Aw Lu! Come on! Can't I do it later?" Sora said in a whiny tone.

Lulu shook her head slowly. " Master Skye wanted you to do it right when you got home."

Sora groaned and rose from his comfortable spot on the couch. He dragged himself into the living room where the white piano was waiting. He sat on the seat and pulled open the cover lid. He cracked his knuckles and then let his fingers glide across the keys. He was playing a song that he wrote himself called " Dearly Beloved".

As he played, his thought went back to Zell's offer. Was Zell really serious when he threatened him? And what about Riku. Was that beautiful boy really as evil as he seemed? Sora once again thought about Riku's eyes, and hit a wrong key.

' Those eyes. . .' he thought. ' They were full of pain and loneliness, hidden behind evil . . .' He began playing a light, happy song while assuring himself that everything would be okay. " I don't have to be scared, I don't have to be scared... Be happy! Be happy!"

tbc

I know... it was short and boring, right, Never mind. Don't answer that.

Riku: They should answer that. I'd say it was boring.

Shut up! Just because you weren't in it!

Riku: That's exactly why!

Fine! You'll be in the next chapter, okay?!

Riku: grins

Sora: Can I watch Rurouni Kenshin now?

Go . . .

Sora: Skips off Woohoo!

Anyways . . . please review. See you again in chapter 5: A miserable Week.


	5. A Miserable Week

The Lion and the Mouse-

Hello everyone. Thank you for reviewing. I really appreciate it. It makes me feel happy. I'm sorry in advance for the length of this chapter. It's probably not long enough for your liking, but they will be soon. Until then, enjoy this one...

Chapter 5: A miserable week-

Despite Sora's efforts to not be scared and be happy, Zell kept his promise. The next four days were a living hell for poor Sora. All he wanted to do was go to school and learn new things, but it seemed as though that was never going to happen. Even though Cloud vowed to keep Sora safe, he just never seemed to be there in time to help. It was all out of his control.

Riku was more than happy to help torture Sora when Zell asked. He never told Zell about the gang colors incident. He didn't know why. Maybe he wanted to deal with it himself . . . or maybe it was the fact that he still thought of Sora as cute and innocent. It was strange. A part of Riku wanted to beat Sora within an inch of his life, and the other half didn't. It was such a bad habit that Riku had never gotten rid of, and he didn't know if he could.

x x x x x x x x

Tuesday. Sora walked to school with Cloud, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, and Kairi. Once again, Rikku wanted to be with her new friends. He listened to Tidus and Wakka chat on about Blitzball while he showed his silver crown necklace to Kairi. He hadn't forgotten it that morning. It was for good luck.

They arrived at the high school and walked into the building together. They were all talking and laughing until they came to Sora's locker. Everyone gasped in disbelief.

Sora clamped a hand over his mouth and his eyes went wide. " Oh . . . my . . . God. . .!"

Spray painted on his locker was the word : " Bitch".

Sora slowly stepped up to his locker and gazed at it with tears forming in his eyes.

" Who would someone do this?" Kairi asked softly as Tidus shooed away some snickering teens.

Sora turned his head to look down the hall where he saw Riku and Zell, grinning triumphantly.

Zell held up one finger. " One . . ." Sora saw him mouth.

Sora scowled at him before opening his locker and grabbing the books he needed. Then he slammed it shut, storming off for his first period class. Kairi fallowed close behind, trying to comfort him.

Cloud was grinding his teeth together angrily. He started to walk over to the two gang members, but Tidus stopped him.

" You can't," said Tidus. " It's too dangerous . . ."

" Bullshit!" Said Cloud loudly, " You expect for me to just stand here and let them do that to my little brother?"

Tidus backed off, looking down at his shoes. " I was only trying to help . . ."

Wakka came and stood by Tidus' side. " Look, Cloud. What would you wanna do then, huh? The more you try to come to Sora's rescue, the more they're going to pick on him. Just stay out of it, ya?"

Cloud just made a huffing noise and turned to walk around the corner.

Selphie fallowed saying, " Awww! Look who needs to lighten up. Let me tell you A joke! There once was a penguin . . ."

Tidus heard Cloud groan as they disappeared. He sighed and then looked up at Wakka. " What now?" he asked him.

Wakka shrugged. "We'll just have to do our best in watching out for Sora. Oblivion's pretty good at this."

" I feel so helpless. . ." Tidus admitted, letting his shoulders slump.

Wakka placed his arm around them in a comforting gesture. " Don't worry, ya? We'll think of something."

Tidus smiled at him before they parted to go to their separate classes.

x x x x x x x x

Kairi sat next to Sora on her stool. " Don't worry Sora. I'll help you clean it off."

Sora looked at her in a bit of shook. " You would do that?"

She gave him a bright smile. " Yeah! That's what friends are for!"

Now, it was Sora's turn to smile. " Thanks Kairi."

x x x x x x x x

Wednesday. Sora was on his way to buy his lunch. He removed his wallet from his back pocket and searched it for his lunch money. He had just found a five dollar bill when suddenly, someone came up from behind and bumped into him violently, causing him to drop his wallet.

Sora stumbled forward, almost losing his balance. He caught himself after a slight struggle, and then looked to see who had bumped into him.

Guess Who?

Zell was holding Sora's wallet and looking through it with great interest. He took out some money and then passed it to Riku. He began looking through it as well.

Sora's mouth fell open. " H-hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

" Borrowing," Riku told him, looking up momentarily.

Sora swiped out a hand for the wallet, but Riku simply pulled it out of his reach. " Give it back!" Sora demanded.

"Take my offer," said Zell.

"No!"

Riku continued to search Sora's wallet while the two argued. He found Sora's ID card and removed it. ' Cute picture. . .' he thought. He smirked and slipped the ID into his pocket.

"So you're still not taking it?!" Zell was saying to Sora. " Fine! Riku . . ."

Riku removed all of Sora's money from his wallet, and when it was empty, threw it coldly back to the brunette.

Sora caught it with clumsiness and stared at them in shock. " B-but . . . I-I need to by lunch . . ."

Zell shrugged. " Oh well. Let's go Ri." He walked away with Riku at his side.

Sora could feel his eyes stinging with tears. " I will not cry . . . I will not cry . . ." he repeated over and over. Head hung, he turned and started for the lunch room. Maybe Cloud or Tidus would share their lunch with him.

x x x x x x x x

After gym, Sora returned to the locker room to find that his backpack had been soaked with water.

He unzipped it and saw that most of his homework and notebooks were saturated with water.

He groaned and lightly banged his forehead against the lockers. " This can't be happening . . ."

Suddenly, his eyes widened and he began to search frantically through the smaller zipper compartment of his backpack. He pulled out his cell phone and tried to turn it on to see if it was still working.

It wasn't. Just his luck.

He slung his soggy backpack over his shoulder and sighed as he left the locker room.

Riku watched him go as he dried his hair from the quick shower he had just taken. For some reason, he had this nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. Was it guilt?

x x x x x x x x

Thursday. Sora had always hated gym, but this was the worst gym experience he had ever had. Not only was Riku in his class, but another Oblivion gang member had been transferred into his class as well. It was Axel, and together, he and Riku made Sora's 6th period a nightmare.

After stretching, the coach made the whole class run their daily lap around the stadium.

Sora ran at his own pace, trying to build up his stamina. He looked back behind him, checking to see how far he had gone. He chocked on his breath when he saw Axel and Riku gaining up on him. Sora ran faster, only looking down at his sneakers.

" Hey girly-boy!" Axel called. " Don't run! Come back!"

Sora ran even faster.

Riku left Axel's side and started to chase after Sora.

Sora looked back again. " Leave me alone!"

Riku eventually caught up to Sora and slammed into him.

Sora completely lost his balance and fell. He rolled down the slope of the stadium for awhile until he came to a stop at the end. He slowly pushed himself up and examined his elbow and knee, which were stinging with pain.

" Owwww . . ." he muttered. He stood up, only to be pushed down again by Riku.

Sora looked up at him. " Go away. . ." he whispered, his voice wavering.

Riku bent over to gaze at the younger boy. " Aww . . . Is the little _bitch _hurt?"

"I said leave me alone!" Sora shouted, standing up to run away.

x x x x x x x x

The sport of the day was basketball. Sora did his best to play, but it was too hard with Axel and Riku knocking into him every five seconds. Occasionally, Sora would get knocked down so hard that he would slide across the court.

Sora slid across the floor again and stopped when he hit the back wall. He winced and looked up when he saw two shadows looming over him.

Riku and Axel grinned down at him, and then gave each other a high-five. The two boys ran back into the game and left Sora on the floor.

x x x x x x x x

After school. Sora was glad that this first week was coming to an end and that there was only one day of the week left. So Zell _wasn't_ bluffing and he _was_ making Sora's life miserable. Sora wondered what Zell had in mind for him tomorrow.

That day, Sora had to walk home by himself. Once again, Rikku was out with her new friends talking about guys, and Tidus was off with Wakka doing who knows what. Probably something concerning Blitzball. Cloud was usually with Sora, but he had to stay after school to check out an individual reading book for his English class.

After Sora went to his locker and packed all of his necessary books into his backpack, he left through the front entrance of the school.

Just as he was going past the fountain, someone pushed him from behind into the clear water.

The water splashed as Sora plunged into it. He could hear some kids were passing by laughing at him.

Sora peered through his drenched bangs and saw a blurry Zell smiling at him. Sora wiped back his bangs and made a whining noise when he tried to stand. Zell pushed him back in.

Riku was there too, as always. He was just smirking his usual smirk.

Zell had a bottle of soda in his hands. He removed the lid and poured the rest of his drink over Sora's head. The kids who were still watching began roaring with laughter.

"Oops. Silly me," said Zell innocently. " Did I just dump my soda on the poor _bitch's_ head?"

Sora wanted to cry again. He wiped away a tear and leapt from the fountain. He ran as fast as he could to get away from the ridiculing laughter. He just had to get away from them.

But Zell wasn't finished with the boy yet. He still had one more thing he needed to do before the day ended. He motioned for Riku to fallow him as he ran after Sora.

Sora wasn't as swift as them and the two Oblivion members soon caught up.

Riku grabbed Sora's arm and pulled it behind his back.

" Let go of me!" Sora screamed, frantically trying to pull away from Riku.

Zell grinned mischievously and waled over to the struggling Sora. He came so close that Sora could feel his breath on his face.

" This is your last chance, you cute, little bitch . . ." Zell whispered, and Sora instantly figured out that his new nickname was bitch. " Do you accept my offer?"

Sora twisted his face in anger, then, he spit in Zell's face.

Zell wiped his face with his sleeve. " Why you little . . .!"

"Zell," called Riku, still holding Sora's arm.

"What?" Zell asked, wiping fiercely his face.

Riku smiled, then he held up Sora's silver crown necklace.

Sora gasped with alarm as he heard the soft jingling noise of his necklace. He had been so preoccupied with Zell, that he hadn't realized when Riku slipped the necklace off of him.

Zell's eyes instantly lit up. " Ohh! Check out the ice!"

Riku shoved Sora away from him and held up the necklace, inspecting it.

" Yo, is it real?" Zell asked as he walked over to Riku.

Riku nodded, grinning. " Oh yeah. It's real." He blinked when he saw something written on the back. ' To Sora, love Mom'. Riku gulped.

" Please, give it back! My mom gave it to me!" Sora cried.

" Riku! Throw it here!" Zell demanded, laughing.

Riku laughed as well and playfully threw it over.

Zell waited purposely to catch the necklace just before it was about to hit the ground. All Sora could do was watch in horror.

" Give it back!" Sora wailed, stomping his foot.

Zell threw it back to Riku and laughed when Sora jumped for it. Soon, they were playing a game of monkey-in-the-middle, throwing Sora's necklace back and forth, and taking pleasure in watching Sora jump for it.

Zell threw it back to Riku one more time.

Sora was still pleading for him to give it back. " Please! It's all I have left from her!"

Riku figured Sora was talking about his mom.

Zell pointed at the ground. " Get down on your knees and beg . . ."

Sora didn't care anymore. He had to get his necklace back. Quickly, Sora dropped to his knees and clutched his hand together as if praying to a God. "Please . . ."

Zell laughed and then said, "Crush it."

Sora's eyes went wide. "Crush it?!"

Riku dropped the necklace onto the ground and placed his foot over it.

Tears spilled onto Sora's face and rolled down his cheeks. He couldn't believe that he was going to lose his necklace that his mother had made especially for him.

Riku's face softened as he stared into Sora's sparkling, blue eyes. He just couldn't do it. He sighed and bent over to pick the necklace up.

Zell made a confused face. "What are you doing, Ri?" he asked.

Riku gulped and looked away from Sora's eyes. " I-I've decided to keep it. Ya know . . . see how much it's worth at the jewelry store . . ."

Zell grinned and playfully punched Riku in the arm. "Great idea. I love the way you think Ri. Lets go." He waved to Sora as they walked off. " Check ya later, bitch!"

Riku held the necklace in his hand. He wanted to give it back to Sora, but Zell was there, and he would look like a traitor. He would just have to give it back to Sora when they were alone- if they were ever alone.

Sora just watched them leave with dull eyes, then , he slowly rose to his feet and walked home with his head hung.

x x x x x x x x

Aerith was waiting for Sora at the door. Again, she had a plate of Cinnamon cookies.

When Sora walked right past her without acknowledging the cookies, she knew something was wrong. "Sora?" she called.

Sora looked back at her from the stairs. " I'm alright . . . I'm just tired. . . really."

Aerith watched with concern as Sora walked up the stairs and disappeared down the hall.

Sora went into his room and closed the door behind him. He grabbed a picture of his mom off of his night stand and fell onto his bed, clutching it to his heart.

" Oh, mom . . ."

x x x x x x x x

tbc

Hmm. That wasn't as short as I thought it would be. Anyways, sorry if it wasn't that good. I've been feeling a little depressed lately. You see, I was very excited about having 51 reviews, but my friend said that wasn't that good . . . then he compared my story to another that had over 1000, he said. It made me feel a little sad. I think he sometimes forgets how sensitive I am. Oh well . . .

Anyways, please review. See you again in chapter 6: New Friends.

Ja ne!


	6. New Friends

The Lion and the Mouse-

Hello! I'm back! Thanks for all of the reviews! I feel like singing ! La la la! I hope you like this chapter, even though it's mostly about Cloud than Sora. Oh yeah! And my friend apologized for what he said. He gave me a big hug when I came back to school that day. He was really sorry. It was kind of funny. Anyways . . . On with the show!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final fantasy...sigh . . .

Chapter 6: New Friends-

Cloud searched the library shelves for something that looked or even _sounded _interesting. He felt as though he wasn't doing his job protecting Sora as he said he would. He was worried about his brother and wished that he had told Sora to stay with him until he was done. He was hoping to catch Sora when he was done looking for a book, but he didn't know it was going to take him _this_ long.

He sighed and moved his index finger across the spines of a few books. Then, he spotted a title that caught his full attention. " _Arial Combat_ . . .?" he whispered to himself. He reached for the book with a look of interest on his face, but the book slipped from his grasp and disappeared on the other side of the book shelf.

Cloud's eyes widened , startled. " D- Hey!" Cloud said a little too loudly for a library.

A librarian nearby shushed him with a finger to her lips.

He ignored it and gazed through the gap where the book used to be. He gasped slightly when his eyes met cold, gray ones. " Oh!" he breathed out, amazed at what he saw.

The eyes belonged to a the handsome face of a boy a bit older than Cloud himself. He was definitely taller because he had to bend over to look through the gap. His hair was shoulder length and dark brown. He gave Cloud an apologetic smile. " I'm sorry," he said in a deep mature voice. " Were you going to look at this?"

For some reason, Cloud could feel himself blush. " Um . . . yeah . . .I was thinking about reading it . . ." he stuttered out, and he didn't know why.

" Wait there," the boy instructed him.

Cloud shyly pushed a few strands of his blonde hair behind his ear. " Um . . . okay."

The boy smiled at him again before he vanished behind the rows of books.

Cloud nervously scratched the back of his head while he waited for the boy to come around the corner of the tall bookshelf.

The boy appeared shortly after and came over to Cloud, smiling gently. He held out _Arial Combat_ and Cloud willingly took it. " Sorry," said the boy, laughing a bit. " I'm a little crazy over this author here . . .Kiyomi Tanaka."

Cloud nodded in agreement. " I can tell . . . looks like a good book."

" It is," said the boy.

Cloud looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. " You've read it already?"

He laughed, having been caught. " A few times, I'll admit."

Cloud smiled and then laughed too. " Then I guess it must be good!"

The boy nodded. " You're going to love it."

Silence lingered between them before to boy spoke again. " The name's Squall Leonhart. I prefer to be called Leon. What's your name?"

" Cloud Skye."

Leon stuck out his hand and Cloud shook it. He blushed when their hands come together.

" So, where are you from?" asked Leon, sliding his hands into his pockets. " I can tell you're not from around here. And I haven't seen you around . . ."

" You're right," Cloud told him. "I am new. I'm from the Destiny Islands."

" Ohh. Exotic," Leon said with a hint of amusement. " I've always wanted to visit that place."

Cloud just smiled at the warm memory of the cool beach waters and the feeling of the sugar, white sand between his toes. "Yeah, it's beautiful. I miss it a lot. . ." he began to walk over to the check-out counter.

Leon followed. " How do you like it here?"

Cloud shrugged. " It's not as bright, and it always seems so foggy for some reason. It's a little boring . . ." he admitted while rubbing the back of his head. They came to the counter and Cloud handed his book to the check-out lady, or rather check-out _girl_. She seemed a little bored as she took the book from Cloud's hands.

She ran the scanner over its bar code and then handed it back to Cloud. " There you are . . ." she said and sighed in boredom.

Leon and Cloud looked at each other.

" You . . . okay?" Cloud asked her. " You seem a little young to be working here."

The girl looked up at them an stretched. " It's a student elective. I needed one for college . . ." She yawned and rubbed tears of boredom from her eyes. " I'm Yuffie," she said. " You?"

" Cloud," he answered, sticking out his hand to shake Yuffie's.

" Nice to . . ." yawn, " Meet you . . ." she gazed up at Leon and her smile faded. " Oh. Hi Squall . . ."

Leon groaned in annoyance. " For the last time . . .! It's Leon. LE-ON."

Yuffie placed her finger to her lips. "Shhh! This is a library!" she said mockingly, and then she giggled.

Leon crossed his arms and looked away, grumbling.

Cloud looked from Yuffie to Leon. " You two know each other?"

Yuffie nodded vigorously. " Yup. A few years back, in detention. Squall was in there aaaaallllll the time."

Leon slammed his fist on the counter. " It's LEON, dammit!!!"

Everyone in the library shushed him.

Cloud giggled a bit with his hand over his mouth. " I should go now," he said.

"Need a ride?" Leon asked him, calming himself down.

Cloud wasn't so sure, but he found himself saying yes anyways. " Alright." He said, his cheeks turning pink.

Leon motioned for Cloud to come with him out of the library.

"See ya around Yuffie," Cloud said, waving.

She waved back with a bright smile on her face. " Bye Cloud! Bye SQUALL!"

Leon dug his hands into his thick hair. " Damn you Yuffie!"

Cloud could hear Yuffie's evil cackle and people shushing her as he left the library with Leon. He followed him through the parking lot until they came to what he thought was Leon's car. He waited for Leon to unlocked the door of the car.

Leon was giving him an amused smile. " That's not my ride, Cloud . . ."

Cloud looked at him, confused. " Huh?"

" This is . . ." He waved his hand at a black motorcycle that was just behind the car.

Cloud gulped. " We're going to ride that?"

Leon chuckled. " Don't sound so scared." He tugged his helmet onto his head and then threw his spare to Cloud.

Cloud caught it with both hands and then pulled it over his head. " You do know how to ride it well, right?"

" Nope. I just got it today," Leon said, seating himself on the motorcycle.

Cloud almost choked as he spoke. " Seriously?!"

Leon laughed again, and Cloud decided he liked the sound. " I was joking Skye, Jeez. Do you want to go or not?"

Cloud gulped again and the sat on the bike behind Leon. " I live on 1776 Limelight Drive," Cloud told him as he slowly encircled his arms around Leon's waist.

Leon gave him a thumbs up as he revved up the bike.

Cloud tightened his hold on Leon's waist when he heard the rumble on the bike. It was his first time on a motorcycle. He had only driven in cars before so he was scared. His father had always told him to stay off of motorcycles; he said he had a friend in high school who died on one- slammed right into a wall. Cloud cringed. He didn't like to disobey his father, but he had to get home quickly. He wanted to see if Sora was okay.

" Let's get going!" Cloud shouted over the roaring bike. " I have to check on my little brother!"

" Alright!" Leon shouted back. " Hang on!"

Cloud gripped Leon's waist tighter as they sped out of the parking lot and onto the street.

O0oo0O

Leon followed Cloud through the gates of the majestic mansion. When they had first pulled up to the house, he had thought he had the wrong address. But Cloud confirmed for him that it was in fact his house.

When they reached the front doors, Cloud removed his house key from his pocket and then stuck it into the door's lock. He turned the key and then pushed the door open.

Out of the house flowed Sora's beautiful piano playing. He was playing a depressing song in the minor notes. Cloud instantly recognized the song as Rain and Storm ( AN: A pretty song from .HackSIGN!) Cloud inwardly gasped. Sora never played that song unless he was deeply depressed. ' Something must have happened . . .' Cloud thought as he and Leon stepped inside.

"I'm home!" Cloud called into their enchanted entry way. The piano playing kept on, and Aerith came in through the side kitchen door.

" Good afternoon, Master Cloud," She said, giving him a cheery smile. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Leon's intimidating figure. " Um . . ." she said, not knowing how to address him.

Cloud smiled back at her. " Hello Aerith. This is my new friend, Squall Leonhart. I met him at the library."

Aerith's smile returned as she dipped into a deep, graceful bow. " Nice to meet you," she said.

Leon gave small bow as well. " You too."

Cloud smiled and then turned back to Aerith. " Is Sora okay?" he asked her.

Aerith shook her head. " He walked right past me with a plate of cinnamon cookies, and he's been playing that song ever since he got home."

Cloud placed a palm to his head. " Something happened. . ."

Aerith began to walk away. " I have to help Lulu with dinner. Maybe you should go talk to him, Master Cloud."

Cloud gave her a nod and she walked back into the kitchen.

Leon looked down at Cloud. " Who's Sora?"

" My little bother . . ." Cloud answered. He asked Leon to come with him into the living room, where the piano was. The music became louder as they entered the living room. There, Sora sat perched on the piano's seat, his fingers delicately flying over the keys.

Cloud cleared his throat. When Sora didn't answer, he called his name. " Sora . . ."

Sora stopped playing and turned around on his seat. He was wiping at his face and sniffling. He cheeks were red and his eyes were sparkling from tears.

Cloud went over to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. " Are you okay? Why are you crying?"

Sora sniffed again and wiped away some fresh tears. " I-I'm okay . . ." he choked out through tears. " I-I just get so emotional when I play . . ."

Cloud could tell he was lying. " Tell me what happened . . .please . . ."

Sora pushed his hand off of his shoulder. " I thought you weren't going to let anything happen to me . . ."

Cloud just stared at him, confused. " W-what?"

Sora looked beyond Cloud and saw Leon standing there. " But instead, you've found a new friend and deserted me . . . just like everyone else . . ."

"Sora, it's not like that . . . I . . .er . . .I-I . . .shit. . ." Cloud stumbled over his words while rubbing the back of his head.

Sora slowly rose from the piano chair and walked past Cloud. He stopped in front of Leon and smiled politely at him. " Hello. My name is Sora."

Leon gave him a warm smile in return. " Hey. I'm Leon. Nice to meet you. You okay? You don't look so well . . ."

Sora nodded a few times. " Yes. I am fine. I just want to go to my room and rest for a little while. I'm a little tired."

Sora left the living room and started for his room.

Leon and Cloud gazed after him.

Cloud sighed and looked down, ashamed for not knowing what happened to Sora---he should have been there to see for himself and to stop it.

Leon looked down at Cloud and said, " He looked a little down."

Cloud nodded and said, " Yeah . . . There's this gang that's been bothering him at school lately . . ."

Leon drew in his breath. " Wait . . ! Do you know the name of this gang?"

" Yeah . . ." Cloud said, sighing as he did so. " It's called Oblivion." He looked up at Leon, whose face seemed to have drained of some color. " Leon . . ?" he called.

Leon blinked and looked at Cloud again. " Um . . ."

Cloud stuck up an eyebrow, gazing at him suspiciously. " What's the matter?"

Before Leon could answer, Rikku's voice rang throughout the house.

" Hey! There's this really cool motorcycle outside!" She ran into the living room with her two, new friends at her side. "Who's is --?"

The three girls skid to a stop when they saw Leon with Cloud.

Rikku's mouth was wide open, and the corner of it twitched slightly. Rinoa was blushing and Yuna was giggling.

Rikku grinned when she started talking again. " So Cloud . . . who's your new friend?"

" This is Leon," Cloud told her while shaking his head with embarrassment. " Leon, this is my twin sister Rikku."

" Hey Rinoa!" Rikku called loudly. " Isn't this the boy who you have a HUGE crush on?!"

Rinoa's face turned tomato red. " Rikku!"

Leon just chuckled at the sight.

" Whoopsy!" Rikku said, while rubbing her arm. " I didn't mean to say to say it out loud . . . Um . . . lets go up to my room now. Oh! And you have to meet my little bro! He's the greatest---"

"Rikku," Cloud interrupted. " He's not in a good mood right now . . ."

" Oh . . . well . . . I can cheer up!" Rikku declared. " We can do his hair and try make-up on him! He looks so pretty with make-up on! Wait until you see it! He's prettier than most girls, I swear!---"

" Rikku!" Cloud shouted. " He's not in the mood! I have to talk to him later . . . It's a brother-brother thing . . ."

Rikku looked disappointed. " Oh, uh, okay. Well girls, lets go up to my room now."

Rikku, Yuna, and Rinoa ran up the spiral staircase and down the hall to Rikku's room.

Cloud sighed again and then looked down at the ground.

" Want me to go?" asked Leon softly.

Cloud nodded. " I really need to talk to him. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?"

" Definitely," Leon assured him, smiling. " I'll meet you here in the morning and we'll walk together."

Cloud gave him a nod and walked with him to the front door. Leon gave him one last smile before he left. Cloud watched him get onto his motorcycle and speed off down the street. Cloud closed the door and headed up the stairs to go speak to his younger brother.

He walked past Rikku's room, where the sounds of their girlish laughter was heard through the door.

He came to Sora's room and the door was closed. From behind the door, Cloud could hear Sora listening and singing along to Utada Hikaru's _Colors_. For as long as Cloud could remember, Utada Hikaru was Sora's favorite singer.

He tapped softly on Sora's door. The music didn't stop, but Sora came to the door and opened it a crack. " What?" he asked.

Cloud let out a deep breath. " We need to talk."

Sora sighed and opened the door all of the way, letting Cloud come inside. Sora sat on the edge of his bed, and Cloud pulled up Sora's chair from his desk. He sat in front of Sora and gazed at him, wondering if he should speak first.

Sora looked up from his lap and sighed. " I'm sorry I lost my temper down there . . ." he said quietly. "I didn't mean to."

Cloud shrugged. " It's okay. So .. . you gonna tell me what happened . . .?"

Sora stuck out his lower lip in thought. " Mmm . . ."

Cloud grinned and said, " Or do I have to _TICKLE_ it out of you?!"

Sora shrieked with amusement as Cloud jumped on him and started tickling him. It felt just like when they were younger.

" Okay!" Sora made out through a fit of laughs. " I'll tell you! Just . . . stop . . .TICKLING ME!!"

Cloud laughed too as he crawled off of Sora and sat back in the chair.

Sora pushed himself up and waited until his laughter died down before he spoke. _Colors_ had just ended, so Sora reached over and turned off his C.D. player. He sighed deeply. " Zell and Riku stole my necklace after school . . ."

Cloud stopped breathing for a moment. Then, his eyebrows drew together and his teeth clenched in anger. " Why those little sons of bitches . . ." he said under his breath.

Sora put his hands on Cloud's shoulders. " I don't want you to do anything, do you hear me? I don't want you to get involved."

Cloud placed his hands on top of Sora's. " Sora, I can't just sit around and not do anything . . .Do you hear _me_? You're my brother."

Sora shook his head. " Please promise me you'll stay out of it . . . please . . ."

Cloud rose from the chair. " I'm not promising. I _have_ to do something."

Sora jumped up from his bed and screamed, " No! Don't you understand?! If you try to do something then . . . they'll go after you too! And then you'll get hurt, or worse! I can't let that happen, Cloud! Never!" His fists were balled and drawn to his chest. A single tear escaped from his eye and ran down his cheek.

Cloud reached over to wipe the tear away with his hand. " Don't worry about it. We've got a pretty big team now. Maybe we can start our own gang." He laughed at the appalled look Sora was giving him. " I was kidding of course."

Sora sighed in relief.

" I'm sorry Sora, but I am going to do something. Now, It's on, big time," said Cloud. " I mean, mom made that necklace for you. With her own two hands! I can't let them get away with this . . ."

Sora gave up on trying to stop him. " What do you plan to do?"

Cloud shrugged and started for Sora's door. As he walked out, he said, " I don't know, but I'll think of something."

Sora watched him go with a look worry on his face. He didn't like where this was going.

Suddenly, His phone started to ring. Sora ran over to his dresser and picked if up. " Hello?" he said in the receiver.

" Hey Cuz'!" Tidus's voice said on the other line.

Sora smiled a bit when he heard his cousin's voice.

Wakka was on the other line---a three way call. " Hey Sora. How's it goin'?"

Sora fell onto his bed with his pone still pressed to his ear. " Horrible," he told them.

" Why?" asked Tidus.

"Oblivion," Sora said, and it was all he had to say. They knew what he was talking about.

" They're actually the reason we called," said Wakka.

" Yeah!" Tidus chimed in. " We wanna help you!"

Sora groaned. " Not you guys too!"

" Look, just shut-up and listen," Wakka ordered nicely. " We came up with a plan."

" We're gonna protect you," said Tidus.

" Protect me?" Sora inquired. " What do you mean?"

" Like . . . we'll warn you when they're coming," Tidus said.

Sora just shook his head. " Alright. If you wanna help, help. I can't stop anyone anymore."

Tidus gave a whoop for joy on the other line. Wakka scolded him for doing it right in his ear.

Sora just laughed at the both of them. Maybe this would be good to have them helping. He laughed some more with them and turned his music back on.

O0oo0O

tbc

I love the song Colors. It's so pretty. I was listening to it while writing this. Speaking of Utada Hikaru, I'm learning how to play Hikari on the piano by ear. I can't read sheet music, so I rely on playing by ear. Hikari has some hard parts in it that I'm still trying to figure out. Oh yeah! And that story about the guy crashing into a wall on his motorcycle, it happened to my aunt's boyfriend. He died, too.

Anyways, Please review. I'll see you again in Chapter 7: The Thorn in the Lion's Paw.

Bye!


	7. The Thorn in the Lion's Paw

The Lion and the Mouse-

Hi! I'm back with chapter 7! I want to thank all of the wonderful reviewers who took their time out to read and review my story! I really appreciate it. I like to hear what others think. I hope you all enjoy this chapter too!

Disclaimer- I don't own kingdom hearts or FF. If I did, I would be rich, now wouldn't I?!

Chapter 7: The Thorn in the Lion's Paw-

Friday! At last! Finally the week was coming to an end. Never once in his life did Sora want the weekend to come _this_ badly. He dressed for school, all the while making sure he wasn't wearing anything black and white. He felt his chest for his pendant and sighed knowing it wasn't there. Was he ever going to see it again? Sadly, he glanced at the picture of his mother, then, he picked up his back pack and left his room.

He walked downstairs and into the dining room, where Lulu and Aerith were serving breakfast. He sat in his usual seat across from Cloud. Rikku was yapping on and on about how cool her new friends were to their father.

Setsuna just laughed with her until he saw Sora take his seat. " Ah, Sora. Good morning."

Rikku stopped talking and turned to face Sora. " Morning Sora!" She gave him a bright smile and a cheery wave.

Sora nodded at them both. " Good morning father, Rikku."

" Are you feeling better this morning," Rikku asked. " My friends were so disappointed that they couldn't try their new make-up on you!"

Sora blushed with embarrassment. " Yes . . . I'm feeling much better."

His father looked at him with concern. " Were you sick, son? I know I got home late last night, so I wasn't able to see you."

Sora shook his head. " I was just feeling a little . . . depressed . . ." he told him. Lulu came around to his side to pour him some orange juice. He thanked her and began sipping it silently.

Setsuna sighed and set down his fork. " I know you miss the island . . . and your friends, but that's no reason to be depressed," he said. " Well, I guess for you it is . . ."

Sora looked down at his lap. He wanted to tell his father everything, and yet he didn't all at the same time. He would make too big of a deal out of it. He would probably want to move again. Although Sora was afraid, he didn't want that. He didn't want to leave Tidus, or Wakka, or Kairi, or any of the others. " I'm alright now. Really," he said, looking up to give his dad a reassuring smile.

His father smile and then picked up his news paper. " Alright. As long as you're okay." He opened his paper and began reading it.

Cloud gazed at Sora from across the table. He was sure that Sora was going to cave in and tell their father right then and there. He sighed in relief and continued to eat his breakfast.

Sora ate his breakfast in silence as he waited for Tidus and Wakka to come pick him up. They had agreed to walked with Sora to school, to watch his back. Cloud was coming too, with his new friend Leon. Rikku was also coming, because her new friends were going to meet her at the school.

It wasn't long before the doorbell rang. It chimed through the house, and Lulu finished pouring Setsuna's coffee to go answer it.

" Ah, good morning," said Lulu, her voice muffled from the distance.

" Good morning," came another deep voice. Sora recognized it as Leon's.

Lulu lead Leon into the dining room and gestured for him to take a seat. Leon took his seat next to Cloud and smiled at him. " Good morning," he whispered.

Cloud gave him a warm good morning smile. " Dad," he called down the table. " This is my friend Leon."

Setsuna set down his news paper and looked at Leon, inspecting him. He always did that when his children got new friends. He could usually tell who was good and who wasn't. It almost always worked, except for once, when Sora had brought Botta home for the first time. He thought he was a " bad seed". Once he decided that Leon was okay, he gave him a smile and said, " Nice to meet you Leon. It's nice to know that my kids are making new friends. It makes me feel a lot less guilty."

" It's nice to meet you too," Leon said.

" Would you like some breakfast?" Cloud asked him.

Leon shrugged. " Sure. What are you having?"

Lulu slid a plate of steaming pancakes in front of Leon's face. " My famous pancakes," she said, smiling.

He gave Lulu a smile. " Thanks! Looks great!"

The doorbell rang again, and this time, Aerith went to answer it.

" Let me in! I smell pancakes!" came Tidus's voice. Sora heard Aerith's laugh, accompanied by Wakka's. Tidus ran into the dining room and jumped into the chair next to Sora's. He snatched Sora's fork and took one of his pancakes.

" Hey!" Sora cried.

Tidus and Sora fought over the pancake for the rest of breakfast. Wakka finally stopped them. " It's time to go to school now," he said.

Sora sighed and rose from his chair. " Bye dad," he said. " See you when I get home."

" Good bye son," said his father. He waited until Sora was gone before he called Cloud over to him.

" Yes?" Cloud asked him.

" Cloud, you would tell me if something was wrong with Sora, wouldn't you?" he whispered so only Cloud would hear.

Cloud gulped and then nodded. " Yes. Of course. I would keep nothing from you." Behind his back, Cloud crossed his fingers. It wasn't that he usually lied to his father, it was just that he had already promised Sora he wouldn't tell.

" Good," said Setsuna, obviously satisfied. " Now run along now. Wouldn't want you to be late for school."

Cloud gave him one last nod before he left the dinning room with Leon.

" What was that about?" Leon asked him.

Cloud shrugged. " Nothing."

XxXxXxX

Riku searched the halls for any sign of Sora. He came around the corner and saw Sora's cousin Tidus coming down the hall. He was about to call out to him so he could ask where Sora was, but Tidus turned and bolted the other way screaming, " Sora! He's coming!"

Sora heard Tidus's cry and slammed shut his locker. Quickly, he picked up his back pack and slung it over his shoulder. Then, he ran for his life to his jewelry class.

Riku stared with his eyebrow stuck up where Tidus was standing. " What the hell was that about?" He scratched his silver locks and than started off for his first period class.

XxXxXxX

It went on pretty much like that all day. Riku would get within a few feet of Sora, and then he would disappear. Tidus and Wakka were always there, telling Sora to run whenever he got close. He couldn't even get close to him in their history class. When he sat next to Sora, he jumped up and moved to the back of the room.

In gym, Sora escaped him again, and in the locker room, Sora hid in one of the bathroom stalls so Riku wouldn't find him. Sora was starting to wonder why Riku had been chasing him all day. He would have asked, if he didn't like living. When he was sure the coast was clear, he opened the stall's door and darted out of the locker room. He met Tidus and Wakka at his locker, and together, they ran out of the school. The day was over, and Sora had avoided all possible hurt and humiliation.

Sora let out a long sigh as they walked down the sidewalk. " Wow. Thanks guys," he said.

" No problem!" Tidus and Wakka said at the same time.

Sora looked at both of them and laughed.

XxXxXxX

Riku stood in an alleyway, waiting for Sora to come. Sora had to walk past the alley way on his way home every day. It was only a matter of time before he would be arriving. He had to hide or else Sora would run away again.

He waited patiently until he heard a shuffling sound behind him. He spun around, ready for anything. Nothing was there. He narrowed his eyes, looking around suspiciously. He knew he had heard something. " Who's there?" he called. " Show yourself, dammit!"

Riku heard someone chuckle, and then a shadow emerged from the darkness of the alleyway . " Well, well, well . . . if it isn't an Oblivion . . ."

Riku clenched his fists and his teeth together angrily. " Flare . . ."

XxXxXxX

" And then Selphie was all like, ' Really?!' and I was all like, ' Totally!' And then she was all like, ' No way!'"

Sora and Wakka rolled their eyes as Tidus went on and on about a conversation he had with Selphie.

Finally, Wakka couldn't take it any longer and he clamped a hand over Tidus's mouth. " Tidus . . . shut up!"

Tidus's eyes narrowed with mischief, then he ran his tongue across Wakka's palm. He laughed when Wakka drew his hand back and started to wipe it on his jeans.

" Tidus! You're road kill!" Wakka yelled. He began to chase after Tidus who had just started to run away.

Sora laughed and ran after them. He and Wakka chased Tidus down the sidewalk and around the corner. They ran straight into Tidus when he suddenly stopped right in his tracks.

" Ow!" Wakka cried. " Dammit Tidus! I-- " his eyes widened in surprise when Tidus placed his finger on his lips to silence him.

" Shhh!" He said harshly. " Listen!"

Sora and Wakka both perked their ears up to listen as Tidus told them to.

" Hey, I don't want any trouble," came a voice from the alleyway.

Sora gasped. 'Riku? That's Riku.'

" Then what are you doing in _my_ alleyway?" came another voice that Sora didn't recognize.

" Come on," whispered Sora. " Let's get closer . . ." He and the other two boys moved closer and hid behind the wall. They peeked around the corner and saw Riku talking to a boy clad in red and black.

" Who's that?" asked Tidus quietly.

Sora shrugged. " I don't know," he said.

" _Your_ alleyway?" asked Riku bitterly. " Since when is it _your_ alleyway?"

The other boy laughed. " Since today," he told him.

Riku growled. " Look Flare," Riku began, " I'm waiting for someone. Just leave me alone, before I have to hurt you . . ."

" Flare?" asked Sora.

" Flare is Oblivion's rival gang," said Wakka, and Sora sighed in understanding.

The Flare gang member laughed. " Like you could ever hurt me," he said. " Want to know why? Because you're weak. Just like your old leader . . ."

Riku's anger level was building up at every second.

" Your gang leader still crying over his bro?" asked Flare. " My big bro is still laughing about it."

Riku's anger level burst over the top. " Don't you dare talk about it like it was some sort of contest! Seifer is dead!"

Flare smirked. " It was a contest in a way. Flare won, and you Oblivions lost. . ."

With a great roar, Riku threw himself at Flare, fighting him with all his might. Flare fought back with the same amount of strength.

Tidus pulled on Sora's shoulder. " Come on, lets get out of here."

Sora shrugged off his hand. " No! What if he gets hurt?"

Wakka and Tidus gaped at him.

" What do you care? After all that he did to you?" Tidus cried. " Come on! Let's go before they see us!"

Riku felt something fall out of his jacket pocket as he was fighting, and he heard it clink to the ground. He jumped back and looked onto the ground. Sora's necklace had fallen out of his pocket. He yelped and swiped it up from the ground, inspecting it for scratches.

Flare wiped some blood from his lip. He saw that Riku wasn't paying attention and took it as an opportunity. He pulled out his switch blade and charged for Riku.

Riku had just put the necklace back into his pocket when he saw Flare coming towards him.

Sora turned around just in time to see Flare plunge a knife into Riku's side. He gasped and clamped his hands over his mouth when he heard Riku's cry of pain. " Oh my God!"

Wakka and Tidus looked back into the alleyway and gasped as well.

" Shit!" Wakka muttered.

Riku fell onto his back, holding the knife that was still in his side. Flare loomed over him, grinning, then from out of his red jacket, he pulled a gun.

" Now to get rid of another," he said evilly. He aimed the gun at Riku's heart.

Sora tugged on Tidus's sleeve frantically. " We have to do something!"

Tidus turned to Wakka, not knowing what else to do. " Do something Wakka!"

Wakka swayed from side to side, thinking. Then he came up with an idea. He cleared his throat and cried, " Hey! What's that noise over there!" He made his voice deeper, sounding like an adult.

Tidus did the same too, only his voice was less convincing. " I don't know! You go see while I call the _COPS_!" He emphasized 'cops' as much as he could.

Flare put the gun back into his jacket, muttering a cusre word. " Doesn't matter. You're as good as dead anyways." He laughed as he ran away.

When he was sure The Flare was gone, Sora bolted into the alleyway, tripping over himself as he did so. He fell to his knees by Riku's side and inspected the wound.

Tidus and Wakka came in shortly after.

" We should call an ambulance!" Tidus said when he saw the amount of blood that was spilling from Riku's side.

" No!" Sora cried. " They won't get here in time!" He gently pulled Riku's hand away from the knife..

" Pull out the knife!" Wakka suggested.

" Are you crazy?!" shouted Sora. " He'll bleed to death!"

" Well, what are we going to do?" asked Tidus.

Sora thought for a moment and then said, " We're taking him back to my house. I know what to do." He took Riku's clean hand into his and looked into his half lidded eyes. " Don't be scared, Riku. I'm here . . ."

Riku groaned softly. " S-Sora . . .?"

" It's okay Riku," whispered Sora soothingly. " Stay with me Riku, stay with me . . ."

Riku's visioned blurred, and the last things he saw before he passed out were Sora's beautiful eyes . . .

XxXxXxX

tbc

Dun dun dun! Riku's been stabbed! Will he die, or will he live? What will Sora do to help? Review, and you'll find out! MUWAHAHAHAHA! . . cough . . .cough . . .!

See ya!


	8. Gratitude

The Lion and the Mouse-

Over 100 reviews! Thanks guys! I love you all!- Gives everyone a Sora plushie-. Oh, and about forgetting to put the name of this chapter at the end of the last one. . . well, that was partially because I didn't want to give away anything in this one by hinting . . . and partially because . . .I forgot . . .

Riku: -coughs-: Bozo!

What was that, Riku?

Riku: Huh? Oh . . . I said . . . Doozo . . .

No you Didn't! I know what you said! Just for that, I'm killing you off in this chapter!

Riku: No! Please!!

-points to ground- Get down on your knees and beg . . .

Sora: Hey! That's exactly what they said to me in Chapter5!

I know. It's called a cruel irony.

Riku:-on his knees- Hey! You know you got that from _The Emperor's New Groove!_

Riku! You're hanging by a thread here! Anyways . . . please enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer- I don't own any of the characters . . .sadly . . .

Chapter 8: Gratitude-

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_" Quick! Bring him in now! Lulu's nowhere in sight!"_

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_" Wakka! Don't let the blood drip all over the white carpet!"_

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_" Oops!"_

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_" Oops is right! Clean it up, hurry!"_

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_" I still think we should have left him there . . ."_

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_" Do we pull the knife out now?"_

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_" No Tidus! Wakka, get the plastic sheet to cover my bed! Tidus, go and get my dad's tool box from his office!"_

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_" Ay ay, Nurse Sora!"_

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_" Tidus!"_

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_" Alright. I've got it under control . . ."_

Riku's eyes slowly fluttered open. His vision was starting to come into focus, like a developing picture. Above him, Riku could make out a blurred face with blue eyes. A bright light glowed around his head, making Riku think that it was an angel. He groaned with a hint of agony. " On no . . . it's an angel . . . I'm dead . . ."

The "angel" giggled. " No, it's me, Sora. You're awake. Great! I was so worried!" Sora moved the portable operation light from over Riku's head, and then turned it off.

Riku's visioned finally cleared all the way. He could see that he was in a rather large room lying on a very soft bed. His head was propped up on several fluffy pillows. He inhaled the scent of the room, which faintly smelt of sugar cookies. His lips felt dry when he spoke. " Where am I . . .?" he asked in a rasped voice.

" My room," Sora answered. He rose from his seat beside the bed and walked over to his night stand. He picked up a tray of food and brought it over to Riku. " Hungry?"

Riku gave a small nod in response, still looking around dazed and confused. Sora set the tray on Riku's lap. Riku just stared at it, uncertain.

" It's soup," Sora told him with a laugh. " Don't worry. It's safe."

" Did you make this?" Riku asked.

Sora nodded while smiling. " Yes. It's about the only thing I can make. But don't worry, it's good. I've tried it."

Riku pushed the tray away. " Look, I'm not eating anything until you tell me what the hell is going on."

Sora just blinked and stared at him blankly. " You don't remember?"

Riku slowly shook his head.

Sora sighed and then said, " You were stabbed by that Flare gang member." He sat next to Riku on the bed. " Luckily, I was there to see it."

Riku's eyebrows furrowed, and suddenly, it all came flooding back to him: the Flare gang member taunting him, him defending the Black and White, The necklace falling out of his pocket, the icy pain in his side, and Sora's beautiful eyes . . .

" Shit," he mumbled. " I can't believe I was almost iced by those Black and Red bastards . . ." He looked at Sora again in wonder. " You. . .you saved me . . . Why would you do that, after all the horrible things I did to you?"

Sora shrugged. " I couldn't just let you die. I couldn't do that to anyone, even if they were so mean to me . . ."

Riku felt his stomach lurch in guilt. He looked down at his hands, thinking of how he could change the subject. He finally thought of something and said, " How . . .how did you do it?"

" How?" Sora returned.

" Yeah, like, how did you move me from the alley way to here without making the knife go in more?" he asked.

" Well . . ." Sora began. " I saw a little kid down the street with a wagon. Wakka bribed him with candy . . ."

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_" Hey kid, I'll give you three pieces of candy for your wagon."_

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_" Hmm . . .Make it four, and you have a deal!"_

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_" Dammit kid!"_

Riku's eyes widened with understanding " Oh . . .well, how did you stop me from bleeding to death?"

" Easy," Sora said with a grin. " Tidus spotted a nearby restaurant and went over to one of the outside tables . . ."

_" Hey, wanna see a magic trick?"_

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_SWISH!_

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_CRASH!_

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_" Oops! Heh, heh . . . I can pay for that . . .later!"_

Riku felt himself chuckle at the image of food and drinks flying everywhere as Tidus pulled the table cloth from underneath them. Then he looked at Sora and said, " Why didn't you just call and ambulance?"

" You would have been dead before they arrived," Sora told him. " A few minutes makes all the difference, especially with a wound like yours."

Riku just stared at him.

" It was better that I took you then than waiting five minutes for the ambulance to arrive," Sora said. " Trust me, it was all for the best."

"How do you know all of this?" asked Riku, obviously impressed.

" My father's a surgeon," he said. " I read a lot of his medical books and listen to him when he talks about his patients."

Riku _was_ impressed. He didn't think that anyone was _that_ smart. " Amazing . . ." he said.

Sora blushed while modestly scratching the back of his head. " Thanks . . ." he murmured.

Riku glanced towards the window to see that day was only beginning. " Wait, what day is this?"

" Saturday morning," Sora answered. " You were passed out all last night. I had to lock my room door so no one would barge in and see you."

Riku couldn't believe that Sora had gone through all of that trouble to save him. He had acted so evil towards the poor boy and yet, he still saved his life. He didn't know how he would ever thank him. " Sora, I owe ya one."

Sora just smiled. " It was nothing . . .really . . ."

Riku smiled back for a while until Sora blushed and looked away. " Sora," Riku called. " Where's the knife?"

Sora got up from the bed and went over to the night stand again. He opened the drawer and pulled out a plastic bag. In it was the deadly weapon, it's blade still covered in dried blood. " This?" Sora said. " I'm turning it in to the police."

Riku gave a startled jump. " What? Why?"

" So they can find this guy and arrest him," said Sora honestly.

" You can't," Riku said forcefully. " Then they might come after you, or me . . ."

Sora lowered the bag silently. " Are you . . .scared of them?"

Riku gritted his teeth and then looked away. " They are the only gang in this city that is more powerful than us . . ." he admitted to Sora. " Ever since they killed our old leader . . ." he stopped in mid sentence, unable to finish.

" Riku . . ." Sora called softly. " What is it?"

Riku shook his head. " I-It's nothing . . . never mind."

Sora kept on looking at him with worry. " Riku---"

" I want to keep the knife," Riku interrupted, looking up into Sora's eyes.

Sora didn't understand. " Why would yo want to keep you object that almost killed you?"

" That's exactly why," Riku told him. " I want to remember how close to death I was, so I'll remember to be stronger."

Sora still didn't get it, but he agreed to give it to him anyways.

Riku thanked him and then took a few sips of the soup. It was good! He picked up the whole bowl and practically poured it down his throat. Sora watched with an amused smile on his face. " I told you it was good."

Riku nodded vigorously while wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He belched loudly, causing Sora to laugh . Riku blushed. It wasn't that he never ate, it was just that he hadn't had a really good meal in a long time. He was about to ask for more when Sora spoke first.

" I think I should get you home," he said, gazing out of the window. " Wait here a sec. I'll get you some clothes." He tip toed out of his room door and closed it quietly behind him.

That was when Riku realized that he was only wearing his boxers. White bandages were securely wrapped around his waist. He poked at them with curiosity. It almost looked like a professional did it for him. And then his mind went back to what he was wearing. Had Sora . . . undressed him? He blushed at the thought.

The door opened and Sora came back in, carrying Riku's pants, his jacket, and a new shirt, since his other one was destroyed by the knife. " Hey Sora," called Riku with a smirk on his face. Sora looked up at him. " Did you . . . undress me?"

Sora's face turned beet red, and he almost dropped the clothes. He began stuttering, saying words that were hard to understand. " Well . . . I . . .uh . . .I-I-I-I . . .I had to . . . so I could s-save you . . .I'm sorry . . .I-- "

Riku held up his hand, chucking. " Never mind, alright," he told him. He gave a nod towards the clothes. " Who's shirt?" he asked.

The color in Sora's face cooled down as he gave his answer. " My brother's," he said. " It's black and he hardly ever wears it. I figured since it's one of your gang colors, and all . . .Anyways, it might be a little big, so I'm sorry."

Riku took the shirt from him. " It's great," he assured Sora as he slipped it over his head. He threw his feet out of the bed and tried to stand up. A sharp pain shot through him when he moved. It burned, and yet it felt like ice at the same time. " Ouch! Shit!" he cried, stumbling forward.

Sora caught him around his waist, and Riku wrapped his arm around Sora's shoulder. Sora steadied him and helped him stand up straight.

Riku hissed in pain. " Damn . . . it hurts like hell . . ."

" I know," Sora said sympathetically. " Unfortunately, it is going to be a little sensitive for a while . . ." He watched with a blush on his nose as Riku slowly pulled his pants on. He zipped them up and then buttoned them. Sora's eyes widened as Riku did this.

Riku watched Sora with through the corner of his eyes. He mentally chuckled to himself.

Sora cleared his throat when Riku put his jacket on. " Your parents are probably worried about you," he said.

Riku just shook his head and shrugged. " Nah . . . My mom doesn't give a shit about me . . ."

Sora gazed at him with wonder in his eyes. " Oh. Well, are you sure about that?"

Riku just nodded.

" Well, what about your dad?" asked Sora.

Riku looked away and heaved a deep sigh. " I . . . don't want to talk about him . . ."

Sora realized that he had hit a soft spot and that he didn't need to go there anymore. " I'm sorry . . ."

" It's okay," Riku told him. He began looking around. " Now, Let's get out of here! Nice room by the way."

Sora thanked him shyly and then turned to point to the room door. " Now, I was thinking that we could sneak out my room, down the stairs, and out the front door. Then, from there, we could-- " he stopped speaking when he heard his window being pulled open. Startled, he turned around to see Riku opening his window. " What are you doing?"

" There's a tree by your window," Riku said. " I can climb out."

Sora ran over to him saying, " No!" He grabbed onto Riku's arm and tried to pull him away from the window. " Are you crazy? You can't be climbing no trees! You're hurt!"

Riku just laughed at Sora antics. " Trust me. I'm a professional under any circumstances." He threw one leg over the window sill, and then the other. He grabbed onto the nearest tree branch and swung out of Sora's room. No sooner did me make it out, did the burning ice shoot through him again. He yelped in pain and lost his grip on the tree branch, falling to the ground bellow.

Sora rushed to look out of his window. " Riku!" he called. " Why do you have to be so hard- headed?"

Riku was holding onto his side while he rolled in the grass in pain. Sora rolled his eyes before he grabbed on the same tree branch Riku did. He carefully climbed down the tree and jumped to land by Riku's side. He knelt beside the groaning gangster . He giggled and said, " I told you not to do it."

Riku pushed himself up from the ground, almost falling over. " Alright, I believe you."

" I'll walk with you . . ." Sora whispered timidly. " Ya know . . . watch your back . . ."

Riku almost 'awwed' at how cute Sora looked. " Sure," he said shrugging. He started off down the sidewalk with Sora walking by his side.

Riku walked with long strides, while Sora walked with small, quick steps.

" Where do you live?" asked Sora.

" Not in a castle like you do," Riku said with envy, glancing back to gaze at Sora's wonderful house.

Sora wanted to tell Riku that he hated it, but instead, he just smiled.

O00oo00O

They came to _The Blue Neon_ apartment complexes and walked up to the second floor, where Riku lived. The inside of the apartment was a pigsty, so he wasn't going to let Sora come in. They stood in front of the door, both swaying nervously.

Riku smiled before he gave Sora a playful punch in the shoulder. " Yo, thanks kid. Ya know, you're not as bad of a bitch as I thought you were. " He laughed at the look Sora was giving him. " And I mean that in the best possible way."

Sora laughed too. " Thanks," he said with a grin on his face. Before he knew it, Riku had wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close to his chest in a tight embrace.

Sora blushed and rested his hands on Riku's chest, never wanting the moment to end. He closed his eyes and sighed in content.

"Thank you so much," Riku whispered softly. " You will never know how grateful I am. Everything that I've done to you, I am so sorry. Will you ever forgive me?"

Sora nodded against Riku's chest. " Yes . . . I forgive you . . ." He almost whimpered when Riku slowly pulled away.

" Oh, and before I forget . . ." Riku reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out Sora's necklace. Sora gasped when he saw the shimmering silver crown.

" I think this belongs to you," Riku said softly, slipping the necklace over Sora's spiky hair and around his neck. " There," he said. " I'm Sorry I took it. If I didn't, Zell would have had me for lunch. I was fallowing you around yesterday so I could give it back."

Sora gave him a gentle smile. " Oh . . . Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me . . ."

Riku reached out to ruffle Sora's hair. " I have a pretty good guess, " he said. He smiled when Sora giggled. It was a pretty sound.

" We should keep in touch," Sora suggested. He told Riku his phone number. " Think you can remember that?"

' Like hell I'd forget,' Riku thought. " Yeah. I can remember."

Sora gave him one last nod before he turned to leave. " Good bye Riku," he said.

Riku waved and smiled. " See ya around, bitch."

Sora just grinned and walked away.

The silver haired boy watched him go. " This is wonderful." He felt as though his heart was pounding ninety miles per hour. " Sora . . ."

Sora stopped walking once he got around the corner. He rested his back against the wall, his face livid with blush He looked up at the sky, smiling. " Riku . . ."

O00oo00O

tbc

Well, okay! That's it for this chapter!

Riku: I'M ALIVE!

Yeah, whatever. Anyways ----

Riku: And best of all, I got to sleep in Sora's bed!

-Clears throat- Anyways----

Riku: And in my boxers too!

Riku, I've just decided that I'm going to kill you. :)

Riku: -Runs off screaming-

Hah! I knew that would get him away! Like I was saying . . . Thanks for reading! I'll see you again in chapter 9: Double Avenger! Yeah! I remembered that time!

Riku: -in distance- Bozo!!

-chases after- RIKU!!!


	9. Double Avenger

The Lion and the Mouse-

Hi everyone! Long time no see! Sorry. It's been a long time since I last updated, I just have so much homework in AP history. You all can thank my dad for that. He made me take the class. Anyways, a lot of you wanted Riku to kiss Sora in the last chapter. Sorry! I just don't want to rush into their relationship. They have to get to know each other first. Also, some people still think my chapters are short . . . but I'm trying to make them longer! Believe me! It's just that when you type it out, It looks a lot longer on Word Perfect. However, I hate to tell you that this one's going to be a bit short . . . I'm so sorry . . .

Riku: I don't care if it is short . . . so long as I get to kiss Sora!

( Sweatdrops) Riku, what did you just hear me say?

Riku: 'Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Riku to kiss Sora, blah, blah, blah'

Riku, sing it like Michael and beat it. It's time to get on with the story! You'll never get to kiss Sora at this rate!

Riku: Oooh! Okay . I'm leaving! I hear ' kiss Sora' and I'm gone! ( Runs off clicking heels)

Sometimes I worry about him . . .

Chapter 9: Double Avenger

Sora returned to his home to see Cloud pacing outside and speaking very rapidly on his cell phone. Sora gulped as he entered the gates and stood before his older brother. " Umm . . . Hi?"

Cloud looked over at him with a shocked, yet relieved face. " See ya, Tidus. He's here." He closed his cell phone and then turned back to Sora, who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. Cloud planted his fists firmly on his hips and asked, "Sora, where have you been?"

Sora scratched the back of his head, trying to think of a good excuse. He couldn't tell Cloud that he was out with Riku. He would go ballistic. " Uh . . ."

" We woke up for breakfast and you weren't there," Cloud explained to him after a while. " I was calling Tidus to see if you were at his house. Dad's getting ready to call the police . . ."

_Crap!_ Sora thought frantically. _Was I really gone for that long?_ He smiled. _Maybe it's because I stopped so much thinking about Riku . . ._ " Um . . ."

Just then , Setsuna emerged from the house and looked around until his eyes fell upon Sora. His face drained of worry when their eyes made contact. " Oh Sora . . . there you are! Where have you been ! I was worried sick!"

Sora just flashed him an innocent grin. " I'm sorry dad. I should have left a note. You see . . . I woke up, and the sunrise was so beautiful, so I decided to go for a walk . . ."

Cloud didn't buy his story, and when his eyes caught the glint of Sora's necklace, it only increased his suspicion. He hoped that his father wasn't so gullible.

Apparently, he was. He smiled at Sora and drew closer to ruffle his hair. " Alright son, just leave a note next time, alright?"

Sora nodded vigorously and waited for his father to retreat into the house. He let out a long sigh. _Phew, close one . . ._ He jumped a little when Cloud stepped in front of him. His blue eyes penetrated through him, almost causing him to break down and tell the truth. Sora looked down and away. " Um . . . what is it, Cloud?"

Cloud gave him a slight shove. " Sora, you really don't think I buy that shit, do you? I mean, I'm not that stupid. Where were you really?"

Sora tried to walk away from him. " I told you, I was out for a walk."

Cloud grabbed a hold of Sora's wrist, preventing him to leave. He reached over and enclosed his fist around Sora's necklace. " Did this magically reappear around your neck, or did someone give it to you?"

_Curses!_ Sora shouted in his head. _He's got me!_ He gave Cloud a sheepish grin. " Someone . . . gave it to me, okay?"

" Aha!" Cloud cried, pointing an accusing fingerin Sora's face. " I knew it! You were with that bastard Riku, weren't you?"

Sora growled when Cloud called Riku a bastard. He tore his fist from Cloud's grip. " I wasn't with him!" Sora shouted. " I was walking and he was too, so he gave it back. No big deal."

Cloud's look was skeptical.

" And don't call him a bastard . . ." Sora finished quietly.

" What was that?" Cloud asked him, crossing his arms. " Were you just defending him? Sora, did he do something to you?"

Sora shot him an angry glare. " Would you stop treating me like I'm on trial or something? Jeez Cloud, mind your own freakin' business!"

Cloud was shocked that Sora had just yelled at him like that. Sure they had fights before, but Sora's tone was different when he had yelled just then. " Sora . . ."

Sora shook his head briefly before he turned and ran into the house. He was having a good morning and he wasn't about to let Cloud ruin it with his interrogating. He needed to relax-- get some breakfast and then play the piano. Maybe write a song for Riku. He smiled. _Yeah . . .Riku . . ._

Cloud stood outside, watching Sora's retreating figure, andclenching his fists at his sides. _What really happened? _He wondered. _Why is he acting like they're friends? After all he did, it can't be true . . . but why would that brat give it back all of the sudden?_

O00oo00O

Sora sat down at his piano and lifted the cover. He lightly placed his fingers on the ivory white keys. He let his eyes fall closed as he imagined Riku's face in his mind. Before he knew it, he was composing again.

O00oo00O

Riku hobbled back into his apartment and made his way over to the couch. Slowly, he let himself fall back onto its soft cushions. The pain in his side hurt like nothing ever did before. Maybe later on, if he felt like it, he would go to the drug store and buy some pain killers. He reached for his remote and turned on the television. He had just found BET when someone knocked on the door. He tired his best to push himself up from the couch, but pain wouldn't allow it. For a moment, he wondered if it was Sora, coming back to hang out with him. _In your dreams, Ri_, he thought hopelessly.

" Yeah?" he called over his shoulder. " Who is it?"

" It's yo bro, Zell!"

Riku choked on his breath and began coughing. Zell couldn't see him like this! He would look like a sissy. Worst of all, he would have to tell him the truth about Flare.

Zell heard Riku coughing. " You okay in there Ri?"

" Uh . . ." Riku coughed some more. " I'm sick . . .achoo! Achoo! Don't come in bro! You'll catch it too!" Riku yelled in his best impression of someone with a cold.

He heard Zell laugh. " Come on Riku. Since when did that ever stop us? I'm coming in."

_Dammit!_ Riku cursed himself for never locking the door, and for Zell knowing him all too well. He tried standing up again, trying to ignore the burning feeling in his side.

Before he could, Zell swung open the door and swung his head around a few times, searching for Riku. He chuckled when he spotted him on the couch, clutching a pillow over his head, andtrying his best to hide.

Zell walked over to him and playfully snatched the pillow from over his head. He giggled at Riku's disheveled hair. " Riku, bro, you need a comb or somethin'."

Riku sat up and avoided his eyes. " Hey Zell. 'Sup?"

Zell folded his arms behind his head. Leaning back, he rested his feet on the coffee table. " Came to see how much paper you got for that girly piece of ice we jacked from the Bitch."

Riku gulped and slowly pushed himself up from the couch. He was careful not to let Zell notice his pain as he did so. " I didn't get much," he told him. " And what I did get, I used it for food. We were running low anyways."

Zell laughed at him. " And the way you're acting has confirmed my other reason for dropin' by."

" What other reason would that be?" Riku asked, limping into the kitchen to get a soda.

Zell speculated him with great care and asked, " Where were you last night? I called , but your moms said you didn't come home. I got worried, bro. You don't usually do things without me."

Riku slowly closed the fridge as he thought of an excuse. It wasn't going to easy, seeing as Zell could read him like a book. Hetapped onhis soda and grinned at his friend. " I was at Vincent's," he said. " Spent the night."

Zell gazed at him with his chin resting on his arms. " Really? I don't remember anything about a sleep over . . ."

Riku popped open his soda and drank from the can nervously. _Zell, why must you know everything?_ He wanted to say. " Zell, don't worry about it," he Decided to say instead. " You don't have to know everything that goes on with us, do you?"

Zell Stuck an eyebrow. " I guess so . . ." he said suspiciously before he rose from the couch to join Riku in the kitchen. He had been paying close attention to Riku's mannerisms and he could tell something was wrong. He gave a short smile. " Riku," he began, " Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or do I have to keep bugging you until you do? You know how annoying I can get."

Riku shrugged. " Zell, have a little faith in me, will ya?"

Zell began laughing, and Riku joined in after a while. He was sure that Zell would stop bothering him about where he was. If he had found out that he was attacked by Flare and wasfriends with Sora, he would kill him. However, Riku was positive that he had gotten away with it, until Zell nudged him hard in the ribs. What was worse, he had hit his knife wound.

Riku dropped his soda onto the floor and grabbed his side with both hands. The pain was unbearable.

Zell watched with a stern glare on his face. When Riku let his hands fall, Zell grabbed the bottom edge of Riku's shirt and pulled it over his head. He gasped when he saw the bandages. He ripped them from around Riku's waist and gazed with his mouth open at Riku's cut. Then, he slowly raised his head to be eye level with his friend. " Who did this to you?" he whispered in a sinister tone.

Riku stepped back from him and looked away. " F-Flare . . ." he murmured quietly.

Zell pounded his fist into his palm. " I knew it!" he cried in a rage. " Those mother fuckin' bastards! I'll rip their heads off!"

Riku grabbed Zell's shoulders. " Calm down!" he said. " I'm alright. I was taken care of by the best doctor ever. Don't worry about it, okay?"

Zell took a deep breath as the rage slowly diminished from his eyes. " I'm glad you're okay Ri', but this is personal now. First, they kill my big bro, and then they try to ice my best friend? I don't think so. It's on now. I'll avenge you, and Seifer"

Riku buried his face in his hand, sighing in dismay. " Don't to anything crazy, aight?"

Zell gave him a solid nod. " You got it bro. Now look, I've gotta go. You sure you're alright? 'Cause I can stay wit chu if you want."

" Nah," said Riku while shaking his head. " I'm fine. You go on ahead."

" Alright. See ya, bro." Zell and Riku shared the Oblivion handshake before the gang leader left.

Riku just stared blankly at the door after he left. " Shit," he muttered. He picked up his borrowed shirt and pulled it back over his head. He inspected his wound before pulling the shirt all the way down. He was upset that Zell had ruined Sora's beautiful bandaging. A grin parted on Riku's lips. Now he had a reason to call Sora. He went over to his phone and pulled it off of the receiver. He repeated Sora's number aloud before punching it into the phone. His heart began beating hard inside of his chest when it began ringing.

O00oo00O

Sora was sitting on his bed writing down his composed song so far when his phone rang. He reached over to his night stand, lifting the red phone to his ear. " Hello?"

" Hey Sora. It's me, Riku."

Sora felt his stomach flutter when he heard Riku's Voice. _I was just thinking about you_, he wanted to say, but that would probably freak him out. " Um . . . hi Riku . . . What's up?"

" I think my bandages need to be redone. Can you come . . . over again?" Riku asked.

Sora was blushing on the other line. " Um . . .okay. How about tomorrow? Think you can hold out until then? I'll need to buy some more bandages."

" Great, " said Riku, and Sora could hear the smile in his voice. " I'll see you then. Oh, and be careful. Zell is out on the prowl looking for Flare. I don't want him to run into you."

Sora drew in his breath. " You mean he found out about the incident?"

" He knows that Flare tried to ice me, but I didn't tell him it was you that saved me. But _did _tell him that I was taken care of by the best doctor ever." Riku said, smiling when he heard Sora giggle a bit.

" Okay, I'll be careful. Promise," he told Riku.

" Good. See ya."

"Kay. Bye!"

O00oo00O

tbc

Yaaaaaaaaaay! I'm so happy! Chain of Memories is out! I can't wait to buy it! And I won an Anime Art contest at my school! Now my drawing will get put on The Japanese Club T-shirt! Wohooooooo!

Okay, please review! See ya again in Chapter 10: Get to know me.


	10. Get to Know Me

The Lion and the Mouse-  


Hi everyone! Sorry I've been gone for so long . . . I had a writer's block. Now I'm back with chapter 10! Yay, 10 chapters! I usually don't write stories for this long, but since you all like it so much . . . I have kept going. I hope you all like this chapter too.

Chapter 10: Get to Know Me-

Sunday afternoon, Sora strolled cautiously down the streets of Traverse Town, searching for a drugstore. He had to be extra careful because of what Riku had told him. Zell could have been anywhere, and he didn't want to run into him in his time of anger. There was no telling what Zell would do to him if he found him. Sora had no doubt that Zell would take his anger on Flare out on him, especially because he turned him down. Sora shook his head, not wanting to think about it.

Once again, it was cold and foggy out, and it looked as though it was going to rain any second. Sora pulled his jacket closer to his body, zipped it up, and tugged the hood over his spiky hair.

After a while, Sora finally found a small convenient store on a street corner. He made his way through the crowd, trying to be polite as possible. He never had this many people bumping into him on the Destiny Islands. He knew he had to be rude just to get through, but he just couldn't be like that. ( AN: Sounds like me when I visit San Francisco.)

He found the door and opened it. A bell on the interior side of the door jingled, signaling a customer's arrival. He searched the aisles until he found the aisle containing medical supplies. He scanned the shelves, searching for a first aid kit that contained all that was needed for Riku. He pulled the perfect one off of the shelf and started for the cash register. He felt lucky that he had found the last of its kind.

He was almost out of the aisle when the bell rang again. Sora watched as two blonde haired teens entered the store. One was a girl about seventeen, and the other was a boy about eighteen. They were both dressed in black and red. Sora gasped. _Flare members!_

The boy had his hand over one of his eyes, wincing in pain.

" Nice job, Vaan!" said the girl sarcastically.

The boy, named Vaan, looked at her with his good eye, obviously having gotten punched in the other. " What? He was a big guy!"

The girl rolled her eyes. " When I told you to go tell the dude that he was wearing our colors, I didn't mean for you to do it like a total punk!"

" I wasn't being a punk, Larxene," Vaan retorted.

Larxene scoffed. " Instant replay, Vaan: ' Oh, ummm . . . excuse me sir . . . can you please never wear our colors again? It would be greatly appreciated . . .' PUNK!"

" I was trying to be polite," Vaan stated in his own defense.

" Yeah, and received a black eye because of it!" Larxene shouted, leading Vaan into the store.

Vaan sighed. " I don't know, Larxene, maybe I'm just not cut out for all this gang stuff . . ."

Larxene grinned. " Don't worry. As soon as the Oblivion bastards are gone, we'll be all the way on top again and we won't have to share the power. We'll rule the city once again."

Sora walked slowly over to the register, still trying to eavesdrop. _Rule the city?_

Vaan just sighed again.

" And I heard that Zexion iced another one . . ." she grinned happily. " The leader's best friend, he said. Won't his brother be proud?"

" I don't like this killing business," Vaan told her while shaking his head. " It's wrong."

Larxene smiled. " You'll get used to it. Now, where's all the medical stuff . . .?"

Sora almost jumped out of his skin when Larxene tapped him on the shoulder.

" Hey kid," she began," What aisle's the medical stuff on?"

Sora softly cleared his throat and pointed down aisle seven, not turning to face her.

" Thanks," she said, and took Vaan to the aisle.

Sora let out a relieved breath and payed for his first aid kit. Then he ran out of the store, anxious to get to Riku. _Flare is after all of them! I wonder if Oblivion already knew? I have to tell Riku!_

As he was running down the street, it began to sprinkle, and then shortly after, it started to pour down raining. Sora clutched the first aid kit to his chest and kept on running through the crowd.

OO00oo00OO

Riku layed on his couch, still in pain. His ribs were killing him! He hoped Sora would be there soon. He wondered if he had a method of stopping the pain. After all that had happened, Riku was sure that Sora could do anything. He could hear it raining outside and hoped Sora was okay. He also hoped Zell hadn't found him. That would be disastrous. Zell was known for relieving anger in many different ways, which was the exact reason why Riku didn't want him to find out about the Flare encounter.

He glanced at the clock over the kitchen and sighed. What was taking Sora so long? Riku had it in his mind to go and look for Sora, but he could barely even move.

Suddenly, he heard a rapid knocking at the door. He jumped up with excitement, forgetting his pain for a moment. Holding his ribs and bending over slightly, he made his way over to the door. He reached for the knob when suddenly, he remembered how ashamed of the apartment he was. He didn't want for Sora to see it especially since he lived in such a castle. He sighed and swung open the door, stepping outside, and quickly shutting it behind him. He smiled at a cold and drenched Sora.

Sora was shivering and his teeth were chattering. " R-R-Ri-k-k-ku . . . D-Danger . . ."

Riku couldn't help but laughing at Sora's chattering, even though he mentioned danger.

Sora just glared at him, clutching the first aid kit with icy fingers.

Riku placed his hand on Sora's, causing him to blush.

" You're freezing," Riku said. " And you're soaked . . . wait here." He turned to go inside.

" Rik-k-ku!" Sora chattered out. " Can't I come inside?"

Riku gulped. " Uh . . .no . . .we're remodeling. Just wait here while I get you a change of clothes."

" B-B-But . . . Where will we go?" Sora asked, still shaking.

Riku nodded towards the next room on the right. " Mrs. Duncan's. Other than you and Zell, she's the only other person I feel like being nice to."

Sora gave him a questioning look. " Why?"

" Once when my moms kicked me out," Riku began, " She let me spend the night on her couch. She's a nice old lady. She said I was welcomed whenever."

Sora glanced at the door. " Is she home?"

Riku shook his head. " Not at this hour."

" Then how will we get inside?" Sora asked. He was freezing and tired of waiting outside.

Riku just smiled and went back inside for Sora's change of clothes. He went into his room and pulled open his drawer, searching for anything that might fit Sora. Riku knew that there was always an extra key under Mrs. Duncan's door mat for him. The kind, old lady was always worried about him. She didn't like his mother's irresponsibility. Riku was surprised that she hadn't called child welfare yet. He then found a red shirt at the very bottom of the drawer. Hmm . . . forgot I owned any other colors besides black and white . . . He folded it up and tucked it under his arm. It still would be too big for Sora.

He began to search for some pants when he got an idea. A devious grin spread across his face as he pulled out some of his black boxers. He snickered and went back over to the door, ignoring his screaming ribs. When he came outside, a smile of relief swept across his face. He was glad about retreating from the cold.

Sora fallowed Riku to the other door and watched as he bent over to pick up a key under the door mat.

" Just a little longer, Sora," Riku said softly.

" Hurry," Sora began quietly. " There's . . . something I have to tell you about Flare . . ."

Riku gave him a shocked glance as he stuck the key into the door knob. Once he heard it click, He turned the knob and pushed the door open. " Come on Sora."

Sora ran into the apartment, fallowed by Riku, whose pain was starting to get the best of him. He closed the door behind him and turned on the lights in the cozy apartment. " Mrs. Duncan?" he called, looking around. " Knew it. She's not home. Come on, Sora, I'll show you to the bathroom where you can change." He lightly grabbed onto Sora's arm and led him to the bathroom.

Sora took the clothes from Riku and handed him the first aid kit. " I'll be out as fast as I can. You look like you're gonna pass out from pain." He closed the door and unfolded the clothes.

Once he was dressed, he came back outside and gave his wet clothes to Riku, who took the clothes to Mrs. Duncan's laundry room.

Sora saw that Riku had started a fire in the fireplace. He quickly sat in front of it, warming his hands. ( AN: Are there fireplaces in apartments?) He reached for the first aid kit and opened the box, takingout the bandages and medicines.

Riku came back into the family room smiling. The red shirt he chose for Sora fit loosely on his skinny frame and its hem didn't end until Sora's knees, where only a little bit of the black boxers were showing. Sora didn't even seem to mind. Riku laughed at his naivety.

Holding onto his sore side, Riku went and plopped down next to Sora, Making a loud thump

Sora laughed. " Oh, very graceful."

Riku pushed him by the shoulder. " Shut the hell up, bitch," he said with a playful grin on his face.

Sora laughed while unrolling the bandages. " Okay, hold up your arms . . ."

Riku obeyed, lifting his hands to the ceiling.

Blushing wildly, Sora grabbed the end of Riku's shirt and pulled it over his head. He inspected Riku's wound as the older teen gazed down at him with a smile.

" Hmm . . ." said Sora with his hand on his chin. " Looks like it's gonna open up again . . . have you been messing with it?"

Riku just shrugged. " It's hard not to when it hurts like shit, " he admitted.

" You must try to fight it," Sora said, applying some medicine to the wound.

Riku hissed at the stinging sensation. " Damn . . ."

" If you want it to stop hurting," Sora began, " Warm up your hand and rub in small circles with your palm. Gently, though, and make sure your hands are clean. . ."

" Can you demonstrate . . .?" Riku asked, grinning.

Sora's cheeks burned. " Um . . .uh . . .sure . . ." He went into the kitchen and washed his hands. Then he came back into the family room and warmed his hands up by the fire. He moved closer to Riku and lightly placed his hands on his ribs.

Riku smiled at the touch, loving it more than anything. Actually, there was something Riku wanted more, and that was a kiss, but that would probably scare off poor, little Sora. _Not as much as this will,_ he thought, glancing down at his hardening member.

"See . . ." Sora said. " Just like this . . .it should ease the pain. Is it working?"

Riku nodded and placed his hands onto Sora's. " Yeah . . . It's working . . ."

Sora's blush deepened, almost covering his face. After a while, Sora slipped his hands from under Riku's and grabbed the bandages. He began to wrap them around Riku's waist.

" So . . .You had something to tell me?" asked Riku, leaning back on his hands.

" Oh yeah. That's right," said Sora, continuing his work. " When I way buying the first aid kit, two Flare Members came into the store- "

" What! Did they say anything to you! Did they hurt you!" Riku interrupted, obviously worried.

Sora shook his head. " No. Not at all."

" Do you know who they were?" Riku wanted to know, calming down a bit.

" When I heard them talking, they said their names were Vaan and Larxene," Sora told him.

Riku chuckled. " Ahh. The girl and the wuss. Surprisingly, Larxene is pretty strong, but that Vaan kid . . ." Riku stopped for a moment to shake his head. " I happen to know that Axel has a thing for that punk too. 'Course he'll never admit it . . ."

" Sora just blinked. " Kay. Well, anyways, they were talking about how you were 'iced', and how Zexion's brother would be proud . . ."

" Marluxia . . ." Riku said quietly in a hostile tone.

" Marluxia?" Sora asked.

" The leader of Flare," Riku answered with an angry glint in his eyes.

" Really?" said Sora. " But that's not all they were saying. Then they were talking about getting the whole lot of you! Just so they can 'rule' the city!"

" Just as I thought," Riku said. He was speaking in his serious tone. "They want it back. They want power. They want all of the pleasure of striking fear into peoples' hearts at the mere mention of their name . . .Flare. Well, we won't let them, not again . . ."

" I sense I'm not getting the whole story here," Sora said quietly. " Would you . . .tell me . . .Please . . .?

Riku just looked at him and then smiled. " You've earned my trust," he said. " I think it's time you knew."

Sora had just finished the bandaging and sat with his chin resting on his hands, and elbows resting on his knees. " Go on," he urged.

Riku crossed his legs and turned to face him. " It was a few years ago. Traverse Town's streets were haunted by the gang called Flare. Black and red terrified everyone. Marluxia had created a pretty strong group of people . . . gathering people who felt as though they had nowhere to go. Back then, it was only Marluxia, his little brother Zexion, Vexen, and Larxene. Since then, they've added Vaan, an orphan with no place to go. Oh, and Lexaeus is another guy who came later."

Sora just sat listening, very interested.

" We got tired of it," Riku continued.

" We?" Sora asked

" That is me, Zell, and his big bro Seifer. We got tired of having to obey those bastards. We weren't goin' down like that. Seifer was so smart. He put together a plan that would take us straight to the top! Soon, Axel joined, and then Vincent, and then Seymour. Soon after that, Leon moved here and joined."

" Wait," Sora broke in. " Squall Leonhart?"

" Yeah," said Riku. " You know him?"

Sora nodded. " Hm. Yeah. He's my big bother's new friend."

Riku scoffed. " He isn't loyal, That's for sure. I'll never forgive that mother fucker. He left the gang because he felt like his life was going to waste. It's those books he started reading . . . they corrupted his mind. And it didn't take a genius to know how much Seifer cared about him. A few nights after Leon left, Seifer went out for a walk to clear his head. A little while after he was gone, Axel called with word that Flare wasn't going to take our rise into power lying down, and that Marluxia was after Seifer."

" He shot him that night . . ." Sora guessed and Riku nodded.

" But even after that, we stayed in power. Somehow, that incident made us weaker and we became second best. They rose to the top again," said Riku. " But because Zell was taught so many things by Seifer, we managed to still be feared by others."

" And they are still after you guys," said Sora. " Shouldn't you call the police, or something?"

Riku gaped at him. " You don't rat on other gangs to the cops, Sora.We don't go down like that. We ain't punks."

" So Marluxia never got in trouble for Seifer's murder?" Asked Sora curiously.

" Nope. He was able to elude the cops all this time," Riku told him.

Sora stuck out his lower lip in a pout. " Well, that's not fair!"

Riku laughed at Sora's cute facial expression. " Gang life isn't fair. Get used to it."

" Well, as much as I hate to admit it," Sora started, " You shouldn't blame Leon because he wanted to be a good person. You should be happy."

Riku scoffed and rolled his eyes. " yeah. And his 'good citizenship' caused Seifer to be shot," he snapped, not really meaning to.

Sora drew back a bit. " Sorry . . . I was just saying what I thought . . ."

Riku's face softened. He placed his hands on Sora's shoulders. " Sora, you're too quiet. If you would show a little confidence, people wouldn't pick on you . . ."

" It's hard for me to be confident," Sora said. " Back home, I only had two best friends . . ."

Riku felt so sorry for Sora. He didn't know who wouldn't want to be friends with Sora.

Suddenly, a loud buzz came from the laundry room.

" Oh," said Riku. " Sounds like your clothes are done. After you change, lets go to a café and get something warm to eat."

" Well, sure," Sora began. " But I didn't bring anymore of my money. I spent what I had on the first aid kit."

" Sokay," Riku assured him. " Sometimes, Mrs. Duncan leaves me money for food. You go get your clothes and change while I see about the money. I'll leave a note saying we were here too."

As Sora went into the bathroom to change, he thought about all that Riku had told him. He was happy that Riku finally decided to open up some and speak a little about his past. This made Sora feel happy, like he and Riku were really becoming friends.

Sora came out of the bathroom and watched as Riku left a note for Mrs. Duncan on the kitchen counter.

" What's it say?" Sora asked as he skipped over to him.

" I told her that I was over here with a friend, " said Riku. " I told her it wasn't one of my brothers. She hates the fact that I'm in a gang."

" Did you tell her that you borrowed some of her money?" He asked.

Riku nodded. " She left me some money this week. Come to think of it, the last decent meal I had was provided by Mrs. Duncan."

Sora glanced at the note on the counter. " Mm. How long ago was that?" he asked, looking up at Riku with curiosity.

Riku looked up at the ceiling, thinking. " Hmmm . . . about a month ago . . ."

Sora's eyes widened. " A month!"

" Yeah," said Riku calmly. " I'm used to going without food for a long time. Actually, that soup I had at your house was good."

Sora laughed, remembering how Riku had eaten it. When he stopped, he said, " Hey. I think it stopped raining."

Riku listened closely. " Hmm. Yeah. It has. It's still gonna be as cold as a damn freezer though."

" Let's head out," Sora said, running to the door with excitement. " I'm hungry."

Riku laughed. " Gee. You're pretty loud sometimes, Sora."

Sora blushed. " Sorry. Once I feel comfortable around someone, I usually come out of my shell a little."

" Seems like it," Riku said, walking over to the door. He turned the door knob and opened the door. " So . . . does that mean you're comfortable around me?"

Sora smiled with a cute blush across his cheeks. " Yes. It does."

Riku smiled back at him. " Let's go then."

After they were outside, Riku locked the door and slipped the key back under the door mat. Then they left for the city together.

OO00oo00OO

Outside on the bustling streets of Traverse Town, Riku and Sora traveled as stealthily as possible. If they ran into anyone from either gangs, the result would have been disastrous. And on top of all that, it was freezing cold! Whenever they breathed, they could see their breath.

" Damn, " Riku said as they were walking. " I told you it would be as cold as a fucking freezer."

Sora laughed at Riku's choice of words.

" What's so damn funny?" Riku asked him loudly so he could be heard over the noise of the city streets. " You think it's funny that I'm freezing my fucking ass off?"

Sora couldn't stop laughing. " N-no! It's just how you said it . . .!"

Riku grinned down at him. " Hm. Oh . . . I've got something funny for you . . ." With that, Riku wrapped his arm around Sora's waist and pulled him close to his body. " How's that for funny . . .?" Riku whispered in his ear.

Sora could feel Riku's warm breath as he spoke into his ear. " R-Riku . . . Wha-wa . . .?"

" To keep warm, of course," Riku said, pulling him along. " What? You'd rather be cold . . .?"

Sora rapidly shook his head." No, it's not that . . . what if someone from Flare or Oblivion see's us? They might get the wrong idea!"

" What idea would that be?" Riku asked innocently.

Sora gulped. " Well . . .uh . . .um . . .ya know . . ." He stopped when he heard Riku laughing.

" Relax, bitch," he was saying. " I'm just messin' with ya!"

Sora smiled. " That whole 'bitch' thing is getting really old."

" Fine," said Riku. " I won't call you 'bitch' anymore." Then he added quietly. " Bitch . . ."

" Hey!" Sora cried.

" Oh look!" We're here!" Riku said quickly. They stopped walking in front of a small street corner café. " I come here whenever I have money for food. Their soup is so good on a cold day like this," Riku told Sora. "Let's go in."

Riku and Sora stepped into the warm café, and Riku let his arm drop from around Sora's waist. _Fun while it lasted_, he thought. _I like messing with him . . . he's so jumpy! Makes it fun . . ._

" Riku," Sora called. " Come on! There's a booth over here!"

Riku walked over to the booth Sora had chosen and sat across from him.

" Let's have that soup," Sora suggested.

Riku gave him a nod of agreement. " Alright. Soup it is. That's nice and warm like I said."

The waitress came and took their order. She brought their soup out pretty quick and set the bowls on the table. Sora and Riku thanked her and gave her the money.

As Sora stirred his with his spoon, he stared out of the window. " Hey Riku . . ." he called softly.

Riku looked up from his soup. " Yeah?"

" Have you ever thought about . . . what you wanna be when you grow up?" Sora asked.

Riku sat back and folded his arms behind his head. " Yeah. 'Course!"

Sora sat up, smiling, he was interested. " Really? What?"

Riku made the peace sign and said. " A rapper!"

Sora's mouth fell open. He couldn't believe that Riku wanted to be something so cliche. " A-Are you serious?" he asked in a smart tone.

" Yeah," said Riku.

" Haven't you ever thought of what else you could be?" Sora wanted to know.

Riku shook his head. " That's about all I can do is sing and dance. I'm not smart like you. I get horrible grades . . ."

" So . . ." Sora began while slowly stirring his soup, " Let me tutor you."

Riku almost choked on the soup he was swallowing. " Wha? Why would you? I can't believe you . . .even after all I've done, you still want to help me . . ."

Sora just smiled. " So, am I your tutor?"

" Definitely," Riku said nodding. " I could use the help. Thank you so much . . ." _He is actually giving me a chance . . ._ " I have to do something for you."

Sora shrugged. " Nah. That's okay- "

" No really!" Riku insisted. " Hey! How about I teach you some self defense skills?"

" Me? Self defense?" Sora laughed. " You can try!"

Riku joined in laughing. " Don't worry! I will!"

OO00oo00OO

Sora waved goodbye to Riku from across the street at his house. " Be careful! And I'll see you at school!" he called.

" You know it!" Riku called back before he took off down the sidewalk.

Sora walked through the gates of the mansion and over to the front door. He went inside where he was greeted by his sister.

" Hey Sora!" she called cheerily. " Have fun at the library?"

" Huh? Oh- uh . . .yeah!" Sora had almost forgotten that was the lie he had told to cover up his visit with Riku. Suddenly, he remembered Cloud, and how mean he was to him the day before. Maybe I should apologize . . . he was only looking out for me . . . " Hey Rikku. Where's Cloud?"

Rikku plopped down on her back on the living room sofa, opening a magazine. " He's in his room. He's getting ready to go somewhere."

" Thanks," Sora said, heading up the stairs. When he came to his brothers room door, he could hear the blonde going through drawers, obviously looking for something. Sora laughed at Cloud's frustrated grumbles. Sora kicked open the door and shouted, "FREEZE!"

Cloud almost jumped right out of his shoes. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw a laughing Sora. " Sora, don't do that again. You scared the shit out of me!"

Sora tried to control his laughter. " S-sorry . . . I couldn't help it. So, watcha' lookin' for?"

Cloud continued to pull clothes from his dresser. " My black shirt. You seen it?"

Sora's heart stopped for a moment and he gulped. " Nope! What do you need it for?"

" This girl Yuffie invited me and Leon to some spoken word café tonight," Cloud said continuing his search. " There's going to be a poetry reading contest, and Yuffie is entering one of her poems. "

" Ah . . ." Sora said, trying to forget the fact that he had given Cloud's only black shirt to Riku.

" And all they wear is black, he went on. " Yuffie told me to wear only black, and I can't find that damn black shirt!" He threw some clothes down in frustration.

Sora knelt by his side, pretending to help him look. " You never wore it before. Maybe Lu got rid of it?"

Cloud shook his head and stood up again. " I don't know why I'm going. I don't know why Leon's going either. . ."

" Does he know you're coming?" Sora asked, rising from the floor as well.

Cloud nodded as a reply.

Sora grinned. " I see. Maybe he just wants to see you . . .! And you just want to see him!" Sora said in a sing-song love voice. " Oooooh!"

Cloud blushed. " S-sora . . .!"

" You like him and you know it," Sora said, the smug grin still plastered on his face. He thought about telling about Oblivion, but it was obvious Leon didn't want Cloud to know.

" Cloud gave him a small push. " Sora, that's not true!"

" Yes it is," Sora told him. " Admit it. I see they way you guys look at each other! You act like such a girl around him!"

" SORA!"

Sora hugged himself and made kissing noises. " Ooooh, Leon! Kiss me, kiss me! Leon . . .Leon! Oh Cloud . . . Give into me, Cloud . . .ooohaaaAAHH!"

Sora shrieked as Cloud leapt on him and started to tickle his sides. He had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. " Okay, okay! Stop! STOP!"

Cloud crawled off of him and sat on the carpet chuckling.

Sora sat up and smiled at him. " Wear the shirt that's such a dark blue, it kinda looks black. Plus it's a dark room. No one will notice."

Cloud looked in one of the drawers and pulled out the shirt Sora was talking about. " Hmm . . . you're right. " He got up to go change when Sora caught his arm.

" Hey," he began softly. " About yesterday . . . I'm sorry for getting so mad . . ."

" It's alright," said Cloud. " I should have trusted you more. I know you would tell me if something happened."

Sora gave a faint smile. So now he was lying to his brother too? First his father and now his brother. " Of course. I could never keep anything from you."

Cloud patted him on his shoulder. " Good. Now I gotta change and get going. I'll see you in the morning"

Sora nodded once. " Okay. See you then." He left the room so his brother could change. As he headed for his own room, he wondered it Riku was really going to school the next day. _I hope so_, he thought. _How is this all going to work out? How are we going to be friends when so many people don't want us to be?_

OO00oo00OO

That's it for this chapter. Wow, I'm tired of typing. I have nothing to say except that I just turned 16 in January. Thanks for reading. See you again in chapter 11:Tradition.

Bye!


	11. Tradition

The Lion and the Mouse-

-peeks out into audience- Hello. . . is everyone still there? I'm back! I'm sorry it took me so long. School is over, so I should be updating more often. In June, I was on vacation. I went to Disneyland! -dances- 50th anniversary! Disney world is so much better though. Anyways, I hope you all haven't given up on me. I do plan on finishing this story, so no worries. It's all worked out in my head . . . the middle's kinda fuzzy though, but I've got the ending! I've also been working on some Lion and the Mouse artwork. Keep checking my deviant art page. There's a link on my info page thingy. Okay, and now on with the story!

Chapter 11:Tradition-

Monday morning, Riku woke up with butterflies in his stomach, and a happy blush spread across his face. He was excited that he was going to see Sora again. He actually wanted to go to school, something he hated doing. It was all because of that boy; he was an amazing inspiration. Something about Sora made Riku happier than he had been in a long time. He jumped out of his bed and stretched, yawning loudly. He scratched his silver locks before he went to his dresser to find what he was going to wear. Once he found a suitable outfit in his gang colors, he went to their small bathroom to take a shower.

As the warm water hit Riku's skin, his mind couldn't help but drift over to Sora's face. " Sora . . ." He whispered. He never thought about anyone as much as he thought about Sora, especially while in the shower. His face became hot as he blushed. He couldn't help thinking about what Sora would look like in the shower. He shook himself and slapped himself in the forehead. " Gah! Pull yourself together, Ri!" he shouted at himself. If hethought about Sora any longer, he was sure he would lose it. Upset, he grunted and grabbed his shampoo. _Why does Zell have to like him!_ He thought hopelessly. He took his anger out on the shampoo bottleby squeezing it tightly. It wasn't long after he began to work the shampoo into a lather did he realize he had accidentally used his mother's shampoo. He groaned. " Great. Now I'm gonna smell like . . ." he paused to read the bottle, " Warm Vanilla Sugar all day. Perfect . . .!" He didn't even want to think as to why his mother had that shampoo.

After he dressed, he pulled his black scull cap onto his head, and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

As soon as he made it to his front door, the doorbell rang loudly. Riku hoped with all his heart that maybe it was Sora. He looked trough the peek hole with excitement. Zell's unmistakably blonde, spiky hair came into view, and Riku quickly backed away from the door. He had forgotten that this week was the gang's traditional " skip school" week. They had done it every year since Oblivion was established. They would always go to school every other week. Riku mentally slapped himself for being so airheaded.

Zell suddenly began to pound his fist on the door shouting, " Riku! Open the door or I'm comin' in!"

" No you're not . . ." Riku said quietly. He had gotten smart and locked the door the night before. He laughed when Zell tried to open the door and couldn't.

" Riku!" Zell called, and his voice sounded panicky. " Riku! Are you okay in there? Open up, Bro!"

Riku sighed. It was not normal for Riku to lock the door, so he understood why Zell was so worried. _I can't leave him like this_, he thought as he unlocked the door.

Zell stumbled inside, obviously getting ready to ram the door. " Riku!" he cried, regaining his balance. " You bastard! Why'd you lock the door? You had me worried, bro!"

" Calm down," said Riku, holding out his hands. " I didn't know you'd be so freaked out!"

Zell sighed and rubbed the back of his head. " Sorry. I just get so protective of you guys sometimes. I don't want anything to happen to my gang, especially you . . ."

Riku smiled while rolling his eyes. " Cut the mushy-brother-shit, dude," he said, embarrassed.

" Woah! That was cheesy!" Zell said once he came to the realization. " So, what are we gonna trash today? Park, mall, rich neighborhood?" He sniffed the air. " And why do you smell like a hooker? Never mind. Let's bounce--"

" Actually," Riku began, cutting him off. " I was actually thinkin' about goin' to school today . . ."

Zell's smile slowly dropped. " What? You're kidding, right?"

Riku shook his head. " No. I am going to school."

The Oblivion leader tried to talk, but all that came out were fragmented words. " You . . . I . . . school? Wha . . ."

" Zell, calm down dude," said Riku, placing his hands on Zell's shoulders.

Zell pushed his arms away. " Why? Riku, it's tradition!" We always skip this week! What the hell are you thinking!" Riku fell back a bit at the angry glint in Zell's eyes.

" Zell, bro, it's nothing really . . ." he searched for an excuse. " It's just that . . .I saw a kid at school . . .wearing our colors, and I need to take care of him . . ." Riku decided that technically, that wasn't a lie. Sora _had_ worn their colors before, and Riku _wanted_ to take care of him.

Zell seemed to calm down a bit and he nodded. " Okay . . .I see. S'cool. Make sure you get him good. Maybe I should come too--"

" No!" Riku shouted all too suddenly. Zell was giving him a confused look. Riku laughed nervously. " I mean . . . let me take care of this one, besides . . . I won't even be there all day. I'll leave at lunch and meet you at your house."

Zell gave a long uncertain sigh before he nodded again." Okay Ri, but don't get into the habit. We're not destroying my big bro's tradition."

Riku gulped. " Wouldn't think of it!"

His friend smiled and punched Riku in the shoulder. " Alright then. You be careful. Remember what to do if you see a Red and Black again?"

" If one of them puts their hands on me, I send them to the cemetery . . ."( Quote from Malcom X! XD) Riku said monotonously as Zell smiled.

" Good," he said. He snapped his fingers as ifhe remembered something. " Oh! And while you're there, keep an eye out for Sora. I don't want anyone else to have him. Ya hear? He's mine."

Riku winced. He felt like a back stabber. " ya . . . yeah. I'll keep an eye out."

" Okay," said Zell. He opened the door and let Riku walk out first. " I'll see you at lunch."

" Right," Riku agreed. " See ya then."

Zell waved before he turned and walked in the opposite direction of the school.

Riku let out all of his breath. " Dammit . . ." he groaned as he began his walk to Sora's house.

ooOO00OOoo

Sora ran downstairs with the strap of his new shoulder bag hanging over his shoulder.

" Slow down!" Cloud called as Sora sped past him. " At first Rikku, now Sora. What's gotten into him?"

Sora ran into the dining room and grabbed a piece of toast from Rikku's plate.

" Hey!" she cried, stomping her foot.

" See ya sis, dad, Lu!" Sora said quickly, kissing each of them goodbye.

" Son, what's with the rush?" his father asked. " Sit, eat. You have plenty of time."

" Yeah Sora," said his sister, glancing at her Cardcaptors wristwatch. " School doesn't start for another hour and a half."

Sora sighed, looking up at the ceiling. " Oh, alright." He sat beside Rikku, and then threw his hands up declaring, " It's such a beautiful, sunny day!"

Rikku chewed slowly while staring at him. " Sora . . . It's overcast."

He blinked and looked out of the nearest window. He blushed. " So it is! A-ha-ha!"

His father and Rikku looked at each other.

" Sora," came Cloud's voice. " I don't appreciate you almost turning me into road kill in the hall way."

Sora gave him a bright, apologetic smile. " I'm sorry!"

Cloud stopped right in his tracks. _Woah . . . He hasn't flashed one of those since mother passed away. . ._ " Sora, what's gotten into you?"

" I was just about to ask the same thing myself," said their father, leaning in on his elbow.

Everyone stared at Sora, including Lulu and Aerith, who were standing in the doorway.

Sora grinned happily. " Nothing's gotten into me! I'm perfectly fine!"

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Sora jumped up from his seat, almost spilling Rikku's orange juice.

" Sora!" She cried, frantically grabbing at her cup.

Sora sped past Lulu and opened the door before she could. His grin wavered a bit when he saw who it was. " Oh. Hey Leon."

Leon smiled and waved at him. " Hey. Is Cloud ready?"

Before Sora could say something to embarrass his brother, Cloud came into the entry way.

" Hi Leon," he said with a smile. He looked down at Sora. " You walking with us Sora?"

Sora shook his head. " Uh, no. I'm going with Rikku."

" Rikku's going with Rinoa and Yuna later on," Cloud reminded him.

Sora smiled nervously. " Did I say Rikku? I meant to say Tidus and Wakka."

" Tidus and Wakka have morning practice today. There's a game in a few weeks," said Cloud. He was becoming suspicious.

Sora had to give in. " Oh. . . okay. Then I guess I'll walk with you guys." Before he left to go get his bag, he turned to look at them. " Just don't start making out while we're walking." He ran away before Cloud could hurt him.

Cloud turned to a chuckling Leon. " My brother," he said. " Just ignore him. He's been acting so different lately . . ."

"He's a kid," Leon reminded him. " He's just having one of those times."

Cloud sighed and shrugged. " I guess so."

ooOO00OOoo

On their way to school, Sora lagged behind Leon and Cloud as they chatted about the poet's café. He kept looking all around for Riku, but couldn't seem to find him. _Maybe he's not coming today_, Sora thought sadly, lowering his head to look at his converse.

They walked under a tree and a mysterious figure jumped behind Sora, putting the confused boy in a headlock. He began to laugh when he realized who it really was. The silver hair that was hanging in his face was unmistakable. "Ah! Riku . . . let go of me!"

" 'Sup Sora! I'm so happy to see you, Bitch!" Riku exclaimed, tickling him.

Sora began laughing uncontrollably. " Ahhhahaha! Rikuuu! Sora cried.

Cloud turned around when he heard Sora screaming. He gasped when he saw who was holding his brother. He shook Leon's arm. " Leon, look! It's that brat Riku!"

Leon turned to look. His eyes went wide. " We have to help Sora!"

They both ran over to Sora, yelling for Riku to let go.

" Hey bastard! Get your hands off of my brother!" Cloud yanked Sora from Riku's grasp, and Leon grabbed Riku from behind.

Sora ducked out of Cloud's arms. " Ah, Cloud! What are you doing?"

Cloud looked at him, confused " S-Sora?"

Sora laughed nervously. " It's okay. Riku . . ." he paused, not sure how Cloud would react to the truth. "Riku is my. . .friend."

Cloud's mouth fell open, and Leon's did as well.

" Let him go," Sora told Leon politely.

Leon pushed Riku away from himself and watched as he straightened his black jacket. Riku was giving him a smug look that said, " Nah nah!"

" Hey Leon," Riku said evilly. " Long time no see. How's your new life going?"

Leon looked petrified. " Let's not do this, Riku . . ." he begged in a stern voice. He did not want for Cloud to know about his past.

Cloud pulled Sora aside. " Sora! What the hell is going on? What do you mean he's your friend?"

Sora looked away from him. " Cloud . . . It's okay. Look! He gave me my necklace back and everything! He's really nice . . ."

Cloud gaped at him. " S-Sora! Have you forgotten all that he's done to you?"

Sora shook his head. " I forgave him, and he's my friend now. I needed one."

" Not one like him," Cloud said. " Sora, he's in a gang. It's dangerous! You could get killed!"

" Nah," said Sora, shaking his head. " Riku wouldn't let that happen. He'd protect me."

For a moment, Cloud was hurt that Sora had a new protector in his life. He continued to stare at him in disbelief. " Sora, but, he's . . ."

" He's nice, funny, cool, and . . . and . . ." Sora looked down, blushing and giggling. " . . . And I think I like him too . . ."

" What!" Cloud cried. " Sora, no!"

" Cloud, you need to calm down," Sora said. " Forget it. Who I hang out with is none of your business. I know you want to protect me, but sometimes, you've got to know when to back off."

"S-Sora . . . but . . ." Cloud was at a loss for words.

" Don't tell dad?" Sora asked hopefully.

Cloud was silent for awhile before he quietly agreed not to tell their father.

Sora laughed happily, hugging his brother around the neck. " Don't worry Cloud! I'll be careful! I promise!" He waited for Riku to walk over to him, and together, they began to walk to school.

Cloud still stood there, staring after them. At that moment, he felt very left out. That was when Leon came up beside him and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

" Don't worry about it, Cloud," Leon said gently. " He'll be okay. If he's Riku's friend, Riku won't let anything bad happen to him . . ."

Cloud glanced up at Leon and moved away from his arm. " Yeah? And how do you know Riku so well?" And how does he know you?"

Leon drew in his breath and looked away.

" What are you hiding from me Leon?" Cloud shouted. He felt like he was going to cry. His little brother, who he shared everything with, was suddenly keeping things from him. He felt like he was losing it. Ever since they moved-- in fact, ever since their mother died, he had been feeling like he was under a lot of stress. Sora was the only one he could talk to about it. He couldn't lose him to some gang thug. " Leon?" he screamed. Tears began to stream down his face. " Tell me! Tell me please!"

Leon was shocked to see Cloud crying. " C-Cloud . . . Don't cry . . ." he whispered, placing his hand on Cloud's cheek to wipe away his tears.

Cloud leaned into his touch, closing his eyes. " Leon . . . everything's falling apart . . .and I can't stop it . . ."

Leon took the blonde into his arms. " It's alright Cloud," he said gently. " I'm here for you. I won't let you down."

Cloud sniffed as Leon pulled away a little to kiss away his tears. The blonde smiled gently before Leon placed a small, soft kiss on his lips. Cloud blushed and hugged Leon again.

"B-but . . . Riku . . ." he muttered.

"Shhh," said Leon. " I promise to tell you later. Right now, we have to get to school."

Cloud nodded slowly. " Okay . . ."

ooOO00OOoo

" And then, Coach Cid was all like, ' Tidus! Swim six laps in the stadium!' And I was like, ' Aw man!' And he was like, 'Now mister!' And I was like--"

" Tidus!" Wakka cried with his hands over his ears. " Shut the hell up!"

Tidus stuck his tongue out at the red head.

Selphie and Kairi laughed from across the lunch table.

" Sora," Kairi began as the spiky-hairedboy bit into his sandwich. " You seem happy today. You were all blushy in Jewelry Class."

" Yeah," Selphie agreed. " And when you came over here too."

Sora shrugged, smiling shyly. " It's nothing really . . ."

Tidus stuffed a few fries into his mouth. " What's my cousin hidin'?"

" Nothing . . . Tiddy," Sora said mockingly.

" Shaddup!" he cried, crossing his arms to pout while the others laughed at him.

Suddenly, Riku slid next to Sora on the bench. " 'Sup Sora?" he asked casually.

" Hi Riku," Sora said, totally forgetting how it must've looked to the others.

Riku reached across the table and took a handful of Tidus's fries. He gave him a nod. " 'Sup Blondie?"

Some fires fell out of Tidus's open mouth as he stared.

" You hungry, Riku?" Sora asked.

Riku nodded. " Yeah. I don't have any lunch money though."

" Oh," said Sora, digging through his bag for his wallet. He pulled out some money and handed it to Riku. " Go get some lunch and come back here," he said with a smile.

Riku smiled at the money and then at Sora. " Thanks Sora. You're the best." He ruffled Sora's hair before he left to go buy his lunch.

When he was out of hearing distance, Tidus leaned in to speak to Sora. " Sora," he began casually. " Can I ask you something?"

Sora nodded. " Yeah."

" HAVE YOU GONE NUTS!" the blonde cried, throwing his arms into the air.

Sora drew back. " What do you mean?"

" What do I--! What do I . . .! Somebody say something! I can't talk right now!" Tidus's head fell into his arms as Wakka patted him on the back.

Selphie spoke first. " Sora . . . honey . . . Tidus was just wondering if you realized who that was."

Sora nodded. " Riku. Duh."

Tidus looked up again. " You've gone crazy, you've lost your mind, your marbles! You've gone nuts!"

" Calm down Tidus!" Wakka said. " You know how you get . . ."

Tidus nodded. " You're right Wakka. I've just gotta breath and calm down . . ."

" This is strange," said Kairi. " I'll be sure to look out for the apocalypse."

" Why?" asked Sora, totally clueless.

" Because Riku's being nice to us-- to you," she said. " Just last week, he was picking on you. Maybe he lost a bet?"

" Does this have anything to do with when you saved him?" asked Wakka.

Sora shrugged. " Sort of. We kind of bonded after that. We've been hanging out all weekend."

Tidus slapped his forehead. " I knew it. I knew we should have just called an ambulance. But nooooo! You just had to play hero!"

" He would have died, Tidus," Sora reminded him. " I had to."

" What are you guys talking about?" asked Selphie.

" Riku shouldn't even be here today," said Tidus.

" Yeah. I thought this was their skip-school-week," said Wakka. " They do it every other week, ya know."

Just then, Riku came back with his lunch and sat beside Sora. " So . . . you guys are again? No wait. Don't tell me . . . I remember . . . Taidus, Sophie, Kari, and Wakku, right?"

" That's Tidus, Selphie, Kairi, and Wakka," Tidus corrected him.

" Oh yeah, yeah, yeah," said Riku nodding. " That's right."

Selphie cleared her throat and spoke. " So Riku . . . Are you . . .going to hang out with us from now on?"

Riku shrugged. " When I can. Zell's already been suspicious. It's gonna be tough, but I'll do anything to hang with Sora."

Wakka stuck up an eyebrow.

" I broke tradition just to see him," he said, eating some fries.

" Isn't the Oblivion gang going to get mad?" Kairi asked.

" Not if they don't find out," Riku simply stated.

Just then, a reporter from the school news paper walked past and spotted Riku sitting with Sora. " Woah!" he cried. "This'll make a great story! Oblivion gang member Riku Nomura with . . .some kid."

Riku jumped up from his seat and grabbed onto the reporter's collar before he could leave. " Not if you like the way your face is arranged now you fucking bitch . . ." He made a threatening fist.

" Riku!" Sora said loudly, grabbing onto his raised arm.

Riku looked down into Sora's eyes and smiled. " But I won't hurt you," he continued. " Sora wouldn't want me to." He set the reporter back onto the ground. " Just don't tell, Okay? Or I will come after you . . ."

" Agreed," said the reporter, his eyes wide in fear. He turned and ran off.

Riku sat back down and continued to eat his lunch with Sora while the others juststared.

ooOO00OOoo

" So when did you firstfeel lost in math?" Sora asked at their tutoring session in the library after school.

Riku shrugged, leaning back in his chair to rest his feet on the table. " Dunno. I never got math."

Sora looked at Riku's homework and nodded. " You can do this with a little extra help. I know you can. What's for English?"

" We have to write a stupid poem," Riku answered. " I can't write poems. Who do I look like? Shakespeare or something?"

Sora shook his head while chuckling. " You can do it. Poetry can be fun when you write about something you really care about."

" I see," said Riku. " Then . . . can I write about you?"

Sora began blushing immediately. " Um . . . sure. If you really want to . . ."

Riku was grinning slyly. " Oh, I want to."

Sora blushed even more and then tried to change the subject. " Okay then, um . . . In History, we just finished Chapter One, right?"

" Riku nodded. " Yeah. I didn't read it though, so I know I failed the test."

" Don't worry," Sora said, " It's not too late to change that."

While Sora flipped through their history book, Riku gazed fondly at him. He loved Sora for all that he was doing to help him. _Finally, someone who's willing to give me a chance . . ._

Sora suddenly felt Riku's warm breath on his ear as he spoke his words.

" Thank you so much Sora. You're the best . . ." he said softly,then heplaced a firm kiss on Sora's cheek.

Sora caught a whiff of vanilla inRiku's hair as he pulled away. He blushed and placed his hand on the spot where Riku had kissed him. " Um . . . y-you get started on that poem, and I'll--"

" I didn't get a you're welcome, Sora," Riku said with a grin.

Sora blushed even more and looked away. " R-Riku . . ."

Riku moved closer and put his hand on Sora's face. " Sora . . .?" he called in a low, sexy voice.

Sora's mouth went dry. Their faces were only inches away from each other. " Riku . . .s-stop . . ."

" Not until I get a you're welcome. " He kissed Sora on the nose and Sora gave a small squeak.

"Y-you're welcome," he said quickly.

Riku grinned, pulling away. He was hoping that Sora would have delayed a bit longer so he could kiss him on the lips. " Okay, so you were saying?"

" You start the poem while I work on a way to explain the math to you," said Sora, the blush on his face subsiding.

Riku nodded and picked up his pencil. He began to write as he watched Sora from the corner of his eye.

ooOO00OOoo

Riku walked Sora home after tutoring, and he had no idea thatsomeone stood by, watching silently. After they saw Riku say goodbye to Sora and start walking back, they emerged from behind the wall in front of him.

Riku stopped dead in his tracks. " V-Vincent?"

" Hello, Riku," said the tall, black haired teen. " What's up? Besides the fact that you walked Sora home?"

Riku looked away and started walking again. Vincent walked with him.

" What are you doing with Sora?" he asked.

" I'm sure I have no clue what you're talking about," said Riku with his nose in the air.

Vincent scoffed. " Oh sure," he said skeptically. " Come on, Riku. What's going on? I knew there was something up when you didn't show up at Zell's at lunch like you said you would."

Riku kept walking in silence.

" Riku . . ." Vincent pressed. " Come on. What--"

" Okay! I'll tell you!" Riku cried, fed up.

Vincent smiled triumphantly. " Okay. Go on. I gotta hear this. . ."

Riku let a long sigh escape his lips as he rubbed the back of his head in guilt. " Sora. . . he's fun to be with," he admitted. " I know Zell likes him a lot, but he's only attracted to Sora's physical side . . ."

Vincent slid his hands into his pockets as they kept walking. " I see . . . but why do _you_ like him?"

Riku smiled. " He makes me feel like I'm worth something, like I can make something out of my life . . ." He paused to gaze up at the sky. " No one has ever made me feel like that. No one has ever given me the chance . . ."

Vincent was shaking his head while tsking at what Riku just told him. " Oh no man . . . You sound a lotlike Leon . . . you better be careful or that kid will have you quitting the gang . . ."

Riku gasped and punched him in the arm. " Never! Nothing and no one will ever make me turn my back on my brothers! Never!"

" Well, then what about today Ri?" asked Vincent. " You never showed up like you promised. What was that all about?"

Riku stopped walking. " He was helping me . . . Okay?"

Vincent stopped walking as well and gazed down at Riku with an uncertain look. " Riku . . ."

Riku interrupted before he could finish. " Just . . . don't tell Zell, okay?"

"Riku . . ."

" Please Vincent?" Riku begged, giving Vincent his best puppy dog eyes.

Vincent scoffed again. " Dammit dude. Why with the sparkly eyes?"

Riku stuck out his lower lip in a pout. Riku usedbeing the youngest member of the Oblivion gang to his advantage all of the time.

The dark haired boy sighed in defeat. " Okay . . . okay . . ." he said, finally giving in. " I won't tell Zell . . ."

Riku grinned happily before he began running down the sidewalk. He waved back at Vincent. " Thanks Val! You're the man, bro!"

Vincent just watched him go. " He's never been this happy . . ." he said to himself. " Never . . ."

ooOO00OOoo

As soon as Riku got home, he started on his homework. Usually, he just watched T.V. or played video games. Homework was something he never did, but he wanted to impress Sora.

He began working on his math at the kitchen counter when his mom came into the apartment.

Riku looked up from his math momentarily to see her. " Where the hell have you been?"

" Out," was her simple reply. She came into the kitchen to get a drink when she saw what Riku was doing. She blinked " What the fuck are you doing? Those look like numbers . . ."

" Thank you Captain Fucking Obvious," Riku snorted, rolling his eyes.

His mother's eyes went wide. " Are you doing homework?"

Riku nodded, not looking away from his work.

His mother looked out of the front window suspiciously.

" What the hell are you doing?" Riku asked her after a while.

" Just checking to see if pigs are flying," she said. " I can't believe you are actually doing homework!"

" Get over it," Riku said, annoyed. However, he was happy that mother seemed to be proud.

She held up her hands while shaking her head. " Nope. That's it. If you can get your act together, then I should be able to too. I'm the adult after all. I've gotta get my act together too."

Riku refused to believe that she was serious. He shrugged. " Whatever . . ."

The phone began to ring and Riku's mother picked it up. " Hello? . . . Yes, just a sec." She held the phone out to Riku. " For you Ri."

Riku took it and spoke into the receiver. " 'Sup?"

" Hey Riku," came Zell's voice. " It's me."

Riku gulped, thinking that Vincent had told him about Sora.

" Missed you at lunch," he said. " Where have you been?"

Riku shrugged, trying to keep his cool. " Oh, here and there . . .mostly there."

Zell laughed. " Very funny. Okay . . . So. . ."

" So what?"

" So what?" Zell echoed. " So what about Sora?"

Riku almost dropped his pencil. " S-Sora?"

" Yeah, Sora," his friend began. " Short, brown haired kid, blue eyes, cute face, nice ass . . ."

Riku felt like throwing up after the last thing that Zell had said. _Looks_, he thought. _That's all he cares about_. " Nope. Nobody's snagged him yet."

" Good," said Zell. " And yo, look. I found the perfect way for me to get him."

Riku clenched his teeth. " Really . . .? How So?"

" The 'rents will be going out of town soon, and I'll have the house all to myself. I'm gonna throw a party!" Zell told him happily. " Isn't that great? And I'm inviting Sora."

Riku rolled his eyes. " Yeah, yeah . . ." _There's no way I'm letting Sora come to a house party!_ Riku thought fiercely.

" Party's in a few weeks," said Zell. " Perfect time to get everything ready."

Riku went silent on the other line. Zell just wouldn't give up, and it was making Riku sick. He could just think of all the disgusting things Zell would do to Sora if he had the chance. Knowing Sora, he would probably just let him do it.

" Ri?" came Zell's voice. " You still there, man?"

Riku narrowed his eyes. " Look man. I can't talk right now. I gotta do my homework."

Zell's side was quiet for a while, and then he burst out laughing.

Riku found his laugh quite annoying at that moment. " What the hell is so funny!"

" You . . . homework . . .?" Zell said through laughs.

Riku strummed his fingertips on the table, waiting for Zell to stop.

" Okay dude," Zell said, catching his breath. " I'll let you go then. See you tomorrow."

Riku's body went cold. " T-tomorrow . . .?"

" Yeah . . . I know we're supposed to skip, but tomorrow's special," Zell said. " I want to invite Sora tomorrow."

" I don't think he'll want to see you," said Riku angrily. " I mean . . . after all you've done . . ."

" After all _we've_ done," Zell corrected him. " Don't you worry, dog. He will be mine. That's a promise."

Riku snapped his pencil in two from gripping it in frustration. " Son of a . . ."

" What was that?"

" Nothing . . ." Riku muttered. " Fine. I'll meet you at school. I . . . wanna sleep in."

" Alright you lazy ass," said Zell jokingly. " See ya then."

Zell hung up and Riku slammed his phone back onto its cradle. " I really feel like kicking his ass right now . . ." he admitted to himself, andthen, he went back to doing his homework.

ooOO00OOoo

Tuesday morning, Sora had to walk to school with Wakka and Tidus. His father was starting to wonder why Sora was waiting, so he had to leave without Riku. As they walked, Sora's mind drifted back to Cloud. He didn't speak to Sora at all after the incident; he just stayed locked himselfin his room. Sora felt horrible, because Cloud was easily depressed, especially after their mother passed away. Cloud had left earlier with Leon and Yuffie. He didn't even say goodbye to Sora, and he was standing right there.

Sora sighed and tuned back into what Wakka and Tidus were talking about.

" Man!" Tidus was saying as he put his arms behind his head. " Coach Cid is really packin' on the practice!"

" Well, he really wants the school to win a game, ya," Wakka said to him. " I mean, our team has never won a game . . ."

" Never?" asked Sora.

Tidus shook his head. " Nope. Nada. Zilch."

" Sucks," said Sora, frowning in disappointment.

Wakka placed a hand on Tidus's shoulder. " Well, look on the bright side: at least your getting taller, Ti."

Tidus grinned. " I am, aren't I?"

Sora looked over at his cousin to find that he had to look up a bit to see into his eyes. " Woah!" Sora gasped. " You used to be shorter than me!"

" I was, wasn't I?" said Tidus, smiling smugly.

Sora pouted. " No fair! Everyone's getting tall except for me!"

" Don't worry Sora," Wakka began, " You'll get taller soon . . ." Then he finished quietly with, " Probably . . ."

" I heard that!" Sora cried, crossing his arms.

Wakka and Tidus laughed as they kept on walking.

As they walked, a small noise caught Tidus's earas they passed an alleyway. He watched as a dark figure began to emerge and make their way over to Sora.

Tidus shrieked. "GAH! Sora, look out!"

Sora turned around, eyes wide, only to be glomped by Riku. ( AN: Very OOC. . . .I know . . .)

Tidus jumped back, staring with an open mouth. He grabbed onto Wakka's arm. " Quick Wakka! Do something! He's strangling him!"

Wakka just stood there, watching. " No . . . I don't think so . . . I think he's huggin' him, ya."

Tidus stopped panicking and started to stare like Wakka. " He. . . is . . ."

Riku pulled away from Sora and held up a paper. " Sora, look!" he shouted happily. " I finished my first math homework in like, forever!"

Sora took it from his hands and smiled at it in disbelief. " Wow Riku! And at first glance, most look correct!"

Riku scratched the back of his head modestly. " Well . . . I wasn't quite sure about numbers 3, 8, and 15 . . ."

" It's okay Riku," said Sora happily. " I am still very impressed!" Without thinking, Sora placed a soft kiss on Riku's cheek. When he realized what he had done, he clamped his hands over his mouth and began blushing wildly. " Umm . . ."

Riku was grinning while touching his cheek. " Anyways, your tutoring really helped . . . thanks . . ." He took Sora by the shoulders. " Now it is my turn to give you a thank you kiss . . ." Riku brushed his lips very lightly against Sora's, and this caused him to blush even more.

Wakka and Tidus just stood by watching, side by side.

" Um . . . Confused?" Asked Tidus.

Wakka nodded. " Oh yeah . . ."

ooOO00OOoo

After fourth period, Sora went to his locker to unpack his books. Once again, when he was about to close his locker, it was slammed shut for him. Sora jumped back again to see Zell standing there with his hand resting on the lockers. The only thing different about it this time was that Riku was with him.

Sora eyed them both nervously. " Leave me alone," he said to Zell. " I don't want to associate with you." He started to walk away, but Zell caught his arm.

" Hold on . . ." Zell said. He grinned as he took Sora's hand and pulled him closer to his body. " Don't worry . . . I won't hurt you . . ."

Sora was shaking slightly at how close he was to Zell.

Riku was beginning to get furious. " Zell," he started. " How about I invite him now?"

Zell shook his head. He was smiling slyly. " That's okay, Ri . . ." he said. " Let me handle it."

Riku's eyes went wide as Zell took Sora by the shoulders and gently pushed him against the lockers.

" I'm having a party in a few weeks," Zell said, raising a hand to play with one of Sora's hair spikes. " I'd love it If you'd plan ahead for coming . . ."

Sora gulped. " A . . . p-party?"

Zell nodded slowly.

"I-I don't know . . ." Sora said quietly. He looked to Riku with pleading eyes.

Riku grabbed Zell's shoulder. " Zell . . . come on. You're scaring him."

Zell chuckled and then looked into Sora's eyes. " You don't need to be scared anymore." He put his knee in between Sora's legs and slowly pressed down. " So?"

Sora nodded, wanting for Zell to just go away. " O-okay."

" Good . . ." said Zell. He gave Sora a kiss on his neck before backing away. " Let's go, Ri."

Riku gave Sora a paper invitation and then took a few steps after Zell. He wanted to stay with Sora; to make sure that he was okay. So, Riku grabbed his side and made a pained expression. " Oh . . . ow! My ribs!"

Both Zell and Sora took a few worried steps over to him.

" Go on without me, Zell," Riku said. " I'm gonna check 'em out in the bathroom."

Zell went over to him. " No. We should go to the nurse--"

" No!" Riku said quickly. " I mean. . .no. It's alright. I'll be fine."

Zell nodded. " Okay. Be careful. We're cutting the rest of school, so I'll se you at my house."

Riku gave him a nod as Zell began to walk off. When he was out of sight, Riku miraculously recovered.

Sora went over to him and gently laid his hands on Riku's side. " Are your ribs bothering you again?"

Riku took Sora's hands in his. " No. I'm fine. I just said that so I could be with you."

Sora looked away, blushing. " O-oh . . ."

" How about you?" Riku asked, still holding his hands. " Zell didn't hurt you, did he?"

Sora shook his head. " I don't wanna go to a party . . ."

" Why?" asked Riku. " If it's because of Zell, I promise--"

" It's not that," Sora cut in quietly.

" Then why?"

Sora mumbled something that Riku couldn't hear.

" What was that?" asked Riku as he bent over slightly to hear him.

" I said I can't dance . . ." Sora finally admitted.

Riku straightened up again and laughed. " That's it?"

Sora nodded, his face flushing with embarrassment.

Riku hugged him. " That's okay. I'll teach you," he whispered softly into his ear.

" Okay,"Sora agreed. They released each other and Sora dug into his pocket for some money. He gave the money to Riku. " Here. Let's have lunch by the big tree in the field."

Riku took the money gratefully. " Thank you," he said smiling. " I'll meet you by the tree after I get some lunch."

Sora nodded and then said, " Yeah, because if we're going to hang out, we've gotta do it inconspicuously. Rumors will start. And I don't think my friends are ready for you yet."

Riku nodded in agreement." Meet you by the tree," said Riku as he began to back away.

" Kay." Sora waved as Riku ran off. He slipped his backpack onto his shoulder and started for the tree.

ooOO00OOoo

After Sora finished his homework that night, he decided he would go talk to Cloud. He was still very upset with Sora from the incident the other day. It wasn't that he was mad, he was just upset that Sora hadn't told him. Sora knew that Cloud could get depressed very easily, and it sometime even made him sick. Sora didn't want to cause his brother anymore unnecessary pain. Sora wished that Cloud had just never found out about him and Riku. _What he doesn't know won't hurt him_, Sora thought as he walked over to Cloud's room door.

Sora inhaled deeply before he knocked on Cloud's door. " Cloud . . .?"

Sora could faintly hear Cloud talking on the phone. " Yeah, hold on a sec, Yuffie . . . Who is it?"

" I-it's Sora . . ." he said gently.

" Yuffie, I'll call you back," said Cloud. Sora heard him hang up the phone." Come in Sora."

Sora entered Cloud's room and then closed the door behind him. He stood there silently, waiting to be invited closer. He could see that Cloud was still in the middle of a difficult math assignment.

Cloud looked up for a second and said, " What is it Sora? Come here."

Sora walked over to Cloud's desk and sat down at his feet. " Was that Yuffie?" he asked casually.

Cloud nodded. " Yeah. She needed help with the homework." Cloud put down his pencil and then looked down at Sora. "So what's up?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. " I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about the other day and that you were right. Being associated with a gang member is dangerous. I _could_ get killed . . ." He looked up into Cloud's eyes. _He seems to be buying it_. " So . . . I've decided not to hang out with Riku anymore . . ."

Cloud leaned forward so that he was closer to Sora. " That's good. I was really worried about you . . . If I were to loose another person I care deeply about, I think I would loose it."

Sora's stomach turned. " I'm sorry if I caused you any sadness or pain. . ."

Cloud slid onto the floor in front of Sora. " Look. I'm sorry about how childish I acted. I just should have talked it out with you. I guess I was just jealous."

Sora arched an eyebrow. " Jealous?"

Cloud nodded. " Yeah. I was upset because you felt safer with Riku than with me . . ."

Sora felt incredibly guilty. He hugged Cloud around his waist. " You don't everhave to feel that way. You'll always be my brother, no matter what friends I make."

Cloud hugged him back. " I know. I'm sorry. I'm just glad that you're not going to associate with Riku anymore. You've still got the others, right?"

Sora nodded. " Yeah . . . the others. . ." Sora couldn't believe that he had lied to his brother again.

ooOO00OOoo

tbc

Whew! That was very long to type! It's 31 pages! I hope you all enjoyed it, even though the title really has little to do with it. Please excuse any errors that I might have missed! There's probably a lot. I had an argument with my friend on how you pronounce Tidus's name. He thinks it's Tye-duhs and I say Tee-dus. I mean, that's how Wakka says it in Kingdom Hearts, and he's never played it, so he wouldn't know. . . Anyways. Now, going off the subject . . . Who saw Star Wars? It was so awesome! Anakin is like, my new boyfriend now -drools- . I'll be back with the next chapter as soon as I can. Please review! See you in Chapter 12: The Lake.

Bye bye!


	12. The Lake

The Lion and the Mouse-

Hi everyone! Thank you for all of the great reviews! I'm glad to know that you're all still reading my story. Ugh, I can't believe school will be starting soon. I'm going to be in the 11th grade! Soon, I'll be off to college. Lets just hope I can finish this story by then. And I also want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY L&M! This story is a year old! Can you believe it? It seems like it just started! I wanted to update on the 18th, but myinternet wasn't working.I want to thank all of you who have been with me from the beginning and stuck with me! So I want everyone to go to my art gallery ( link's in my description) and go to the scraps section. There, you will find two pieces Lion and the Mouse artwork. They are only sketches, but I'm sure you'll like them. Anyways, let's get on with this chapter!

Disclaimer- I think I forgot this in the last few chapters. I don't own Kingdom Hearts of Final Fantasy! So Nyah!

Chapter 12: The lake-

At the end of the week, Riku and Sora finally managed to be together outside of school. Together, they had snuck past the guards of Traverse Town and escaped the city. Sora was a little reluctant, but Riku promised him that he would keep him from getting into trouble. Riku took Sora deep into Macalania Woods north of Traverse Town. They were able to talk and play around like normal teenagers. They even played a little game of Hide and Go Seek. Riku would always find Sora.

" It's getting dark," Riku said to Sora later on. " Let's play one more game and then go home."

Sora gave him an excited nod. " Okay!" he sang, clapping his hands.

Riku smiled at him. Sora was so innocent and childish. His purity was what drew Riku in even more. It had been Sora's idea to play games. At first, Riku turned it down. " We're not kids anymore Sora," he had said, but Sora's beautiful cerulean eyes pleaded for him to reconsider.He couldn't say no to Sora's adorable face. Riku turned back to Sora. " So, what do you want to play?"

Sora shut his eyes in excitement. " Let's play tag!" he said.

Riku laughed at Sora's childlike attitude. " Okay." He grinned devilishly and said, " But let's make it interesting . . ."

Sora stared at him with wide, blinking eyes. " How so?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

" Like, the winner gets a prize," Riku told him as he crossed his arms.

Sora grinned. " Okay! If I win . . ." he jabbed a thumb to his chest, " Then you have buy me ice-cream when we get back!"

Riku closed his eyes and nodded. " Okay . . . but if I win . . ." he opened one of his whimsical eyes to gaze at Sora " . . . Then you have to give me . . . a kiss . . ."

Sora's face reddened very quickly as he twiddled his fingers nervously. " Um . . ."

Riku stuck out his hand. " Deal?"

Sora's whole face seemed to turn red as he slid his hand into Riku's to shake it. " D-Deal!"

" Great," said Riku. He tugged Sora close to his body and touched his side. " Tag . . ." he whispered in Sora's ear.

Sora could feel his face growing hotter.

Riku jumped back laughing and ran deeper into the woods. Sora ran after him, laughing as well. He turned in a different direction, and out of sight.

Riku glanced over his shoulder as he ran, but he didn't see Sora. He stopped running and looked around for the boy. He turned every way,searching for him. " Sora?" he called. A bird's caw was all he got in reply. For a moment, Riku very worried that Sora had gotten lost. If he was, Riku would blame himself forever. He was panicking when suddenly, someone jumped him from behind. Riku fell onto his back and looked up to see Sora giggling over him. He blushed a bit because Sora was straddling his waist on his knees, and pinning his arms over his head by his wrists.

" Tag!" Sora said gleefully.

Riku grinned up at him and then turned his head to the side. " Wow Sora. You play very dirty . . ."

Sora laughed. " Ha ha . . . very clever, Riku. But let's see how clever you are in catching me!" He jumped up from Riku and ran off giggling.

Riku frowned at the loss of Sora's warmth. The sky was growing dark rapidly, and the moon was beginning to come out. Jumping up, he ran after Sora. " Sora!" he was calling as he pushed past some bushes. " It's getting dark! Just let me tag you so I . . ." He trailed off as he came out of the bushes and stood next to Sora. " Woah . . ." he murmured.

" Look . . ." said Sora as he pointed ahead.

Their eyes were wide in wonder as they stared at the sight before them.

There was a lake with crystal, clear water. The moon beams reflected off of it, making the lake seem to glow. It sparkled majestically, and gave off a mysterious, yet eerie feeling. The stars were beginning to appear, and each and every one of them made the lake sparkle with even more radiance.

Riku looked over to Sora, who's eyes were also reflecting the light on the water. He looked so . . . mystical. He was beautiful.

Sora smiled and slowly began to walk over to the edge of the lake. He slipped his shoes off and then lifted his legs to pull off his socks. He tucked them neatly into his shoes and then stuck his toe into the water. He giggled and pulled back his foot. " The water feels great," he said, looking back at Riku over his shoulder. He was grinning.

Riku stared at Sora. The blue light from the water was dancing over Sora's body. " S-Sora . . . We should go," he said. " It's already dark. Your pops is gonna freak if you're late."

Sora waved carelessly with his hand. " Awww, it's alright. I'll tell him I was studying late at the library and forgot to call," he said smiling. " Besides . . ." he unzipped his jacket and it slowly began to slip off of his shoulders " . . . I miss the water . . ." His jacket dropped from his body and landed over his shoes.

" Are you sure . . .?" asked Riku, staring at a stripping Sora. His eyes were widening as he stared.

" You still haven't tagged me yet, Riku," Sora reminded him softly. He pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it onto his clothes pile.

Riku let his eyes wander over Sora's upper body. It looked so smooth and untouched. He wondered if it was as soft as it looked. _He's beautiful . . ._ he thought.

Sora's hands fell to his zipper, and Riku's mouth went dry as he watched Sora slowly pull it down. He wriggled out of his shorts and then kicked them aside.

Riku began to stare at Sora's light blue boxers.

Sora turned to look at him and held out his finger. " Come and get me Riku."

Riku wondered if Sora was meaning to be this seductive or if he really didn't know. Whatever it was, it was turning Riku on drastically. " Wha?"

" Or are you too chicken?" asked Sora, giving Riku a smug grin. " Because this is my element." Sora stepped into the water and swam farther out until the water was just past his belly button. "Oh Riku . . . it feels so good," he said, closing his eyes.

Riku knew that Sora was talking about the water, but at that moment, something else was on Riku's mind.

" C'mon Riku!" Sora called. " The water's great!"

_Don't do it Riku,_ he told himself. _You know that if you get in there, you won't be able to control yourself . . . But he's so beautiful. . . He really is . . ._ Riku gave into his heart and walked over to the edge of the lake. He took off his shoes, his hat, jacket, shirt, and pants. He heard Sora giggle at his black boxers.

" What's so funny?" he asked Sora as he stepped into the water.

Sora was blushing as he stared at Riku's muscular body. He gulped. " Ummm . . ." He looked into Riku's eyes to find that the light from the water made them seem like they could glow.

Riku noticed Sora staring at him and began blushing. " What?"

" Y-your eyes," said Sora softly. " They're glowing . . . like a cat's . . ."

Riku looked down at his reflection in the water. His eyes _were_ glowing. " Wow . . ." he said. He looked back up at Sora and grinned. " Okay you little brat! Now I'm comin' after you! We're not finished!" Riku made a grab for him, but Sora ducked under the water and swam away.

Riku laughed. " Oh! So it's like that!"

Sora came back up and shook the water out of his hair like a puppy. Riku noticed that when Sora's hair was wet, it looked almost like his cousin Tidus's.

He swam over to him and tried to grab him again, and Sora splashed him in the face. Riku laughed. The water was dripping from his silver locks. " So Sora . . . playing hard to get. That's fine. I get what I want . . ." He reached for Sora, but he swam away giggling. " Sora! You little brat!" called Riku laughing. " Come here!"

" No!" Sora called back as he splashed Riku again. His face reddened once more. Tiny drops of water were dripping from Riku's face and body. Sora tried to hide his blush under his hands. That was when Riku grabbed him. Sora shrieked with surprise.

" Tag!" Riku announced with a triumphant grin on his face.

Sora was laughing. " Okay, okay . . . You win!"

Riku loved to hear Sora laugh. That was when he remembered how ticklish Sora was. He grinned as he held onto Sora's waist and sank under the water.

" What are you doing?" he heard Sora ask before he was all the way under the water.

Riku moved his face closer to Sora's abdomen and blew bubbles on his stomach.

Sora laughed at the tickling sensation, gripping Riku's shoulders.

Riku came back up for air and to see Sora's smile. He went back under and let his lips fall upon Sora's belly button. He felt Sora jump at his touch. Riku released Sora and swam around him while still under water.

Sora watched him, and ran his fingertips across Riku's chest as he swan by.

Riku came back up to see a blushing Sora. He held his hands out to him. " 'Cmere baby . . ."

Sora's face brightened like a red lamp. He grinned sheepishly. " No!" He splashed Riku in the face again.

Riku gaped playfully at him through drenched locks. " Alright! That's it!" He swam after Sora who was laughing and swimming away. Riku reached out and took Sora into his arms. He lifted Sora over his head, and despite his laughing screams, dunked him into the water.

Sora came up gasping for air while laughingwith excitement. " Riku!" he scolded.

Riku gently took Sora's hands in his and spun around with him in the water. They stopped near the other side of the lake, and Riku softly laid his handson Sora's thin shoulders. They traveled down his waist and came to rest on Sora's hips. Sora blushed as Riku pulled him to his body.

" Ya know Sora," Riku began in a whisper. " You still owe me my prize . . ."

Sora looked way. " Y-Yeah . . . the kiss . . ."

Riku gazed down with fondness at the shy boy he was holding. He smiled. " Sora . . ." he called. " Look at me . . ."

Sora slowly lifted his head only to be kissed lightly on the lips by Riku. Surprised, he smiled and looked down, bringing his hands out of the water to rest on Riku's chest. He gave a nervous laugh.

Riku leaned over and placed a few soft kisses on Sora's neck.

Sora giggled in response, tilting his head back to give Riku more access. He mewled with pleasure as Riku's tongue ran across his neck. When Riku pulled back, Sora became shy again and looked down, his face still bright red.

Riku tilted Sora's face upward by his chin and looked deep into his eyes. Their faces were so close, Sora could see Riku's gleaming, silver eyelashes, and the drops of water on his face and hair. Strands of his hair clung to his face and neck.

They moved closer and Riku kissed Sora deeply on the lips. At first, Sora didn't know how to respond, but he soon relaxed when Riku encircled his arms around his waist and pulled him closer. When the kiss deepened, Sora wrapped his arms around Riku's neck for support. He moaned when Riku licked his lower lip and moved his tongue into his mouth. Riku felt Sora jump when their tongues touched. He relaxed again when Riku brought one of his hands to the back of his head. Their tongues danced in each other's mouths, tasting every part of the other's. They breathed into each other and pulled back for a little air. They were breathing heavily with their foreheads resting against one another's.

" You're so beautiful, Sora . . ." Riku whispered.

Sora looked up at him through his thick eyelashes. He smiled. " You too . . ."

Riku smiled again before his lips fells upon Sora's once more. Sora purred into Riku's mouth, and Riku loved the way it felt. He pulled Sora closer so that their wet bodies were touching. They pulled their faces away again, and Riku leaned over to nip at Sora's delicate ear.

" Riku . . ." Sora moaned, moving his hands down Riku's shoulder blades.

Riku smiled as he kissed down Sora's neck and onto his chest. Riku rested his hand on the small of Sora's back, and used the other to caress his abdomen. Sora closed his eyes, sighing with hazy pleasure.

Riku began to kiss him again as his hand moved down to caress Sora's clothed manhood.

Sora yelped at the contact. " Mmm . . . Riku, more . . ."

Riku obeyed and pressed his hand down. Sora gasped and hooked his arms around Riku's neck. " Riku. . . Kiss me, please . . ."

" Sora . . ." Riku hugged him close and pressed his lips to Sora's again, who began to kiss him back. Riku couldn't take the maddening heat between them. He could feel himself growing hard against Sora, who he could tell was aroused as well. His hands traveled down to Sora's backside, and he pulled him closer.

Sora gasped into Riku's mouth when their hips began to move together. They pulled apart for air as they kept grinding against each other. Sora rested his cheek on Riku's shoulder. " Ri . . .ku . . ." he said between gasps for air. Riku held him close and moved into him harder.

" Riku, please . . ." Sora gasped out. " Can I _really feel_ you?"

Riku nodded in response. He gently moved Sora's back against a nearby stone that was slick with water. He placed his hands on the elastic band of Sora's boxers and pulled them down his waist. Sora lifted his leg to allow Riku to pull them off. Riku put them on another nearby stone, and then gazed at the beautiful Sora. His mouth went dry as he did so.

Sora was leaning against the rock with his eyes closed. His arms were spread out and his hands were gripping the slippery stone. Water was dripping from him everywhere, making his body shimmer with fairy-like grace.

"Sora . . ." He murmured as he moved closer. He reached down to pull off his own boxers. When he did so, he laid them on top of Sora's. He came closer and cupped Sora's face in his hands. Then he kissed him once more.

ooOO00OOoo

The next moment, Riku was making love to Sora, who's back was still pressed against the rock. His arms were wrapped tightly around Riku's neck, and Riku's hands were gripping Sora's waist.

" Riku!" Sora pleaded. " Please! Deeper, faster, harder!" He was whimpering in pleasure.

" Yes Sora!" Riku obeyed Sora's wish by doing what he asked.

Sora dug his nails into Riku's back. " Riku . . .!"

" Ah . . . Sora!" Riku moaned. He knew he was getting ready to go over the edge. " Sora! I'm coming!" He gripped Sora tighter and began gasping faster.

Sora did the same as he lifted his knees out of the water, and Riku pulled his legs over his shoulders. He supported Sora by holding his bottom.

" S-Sora!" Riku said, gasping.

"Deeper . . ." Sora pleaded. " Im gonna-- ah! . . . I'm gonna . . .!"

Riku held him closer. It was the best feeling he ever had. He was so happy to finally have Sora in his arms, begging and calling his name. He could feel his climax coming.

" Riku . . ." Sora moaned, and Riku moved faster. " Riku!" he screamed, throwing his head back and flinging his arms over his head.

Riku could feel it coming. " Sora!"

" Riku!"

ooOO00OOoo

Riku shot up in bed only to see his mother. He rubbed his eyes and looked all around. _Dammit! It was only a dream!_

His mother was staring at him. " You okay?"

Riku looked at her and blinked. " What are you doing in here?" he asked sleepily.

" You told me to wake you up early for school," she said. " I heard you moaning in your sleep, so I decided to do it now. The only way I could wake you up was by shouting your name." She made a curious face and said,"Oh, and who's Sora?"

Riku stopped breathing for a moment. " What? No one . . ." He threw his legs out of bed and stretched.

His mother looked down at his bed and then at his crotch. She chuckled when she saw the wet spots. " Riku . . . who have you been dreaming about?"

" N-No one . . ." he said quietly.

She put her finger to her chin in thought. " Well,you haven't wet the bed in a few years . . ."

Riku grabbed his pillow and threw it at her. " Get out of my room you bitch!"

His mother punched him hard in the shoulder.

" Ow!" he cried, holding it. " What was that for?"

" I have decided not to tolerate any lip from you," she told him. " I'm trying to be a better parent."

Riku rolled his eyes. She tried to be a better parent before plenty of times, but it never lasted. " Fine mom. Can you _please_ leave so I can get dressed?"

" Okay. Fine. That's all you had to say." She rose from her knees and walked out, closing Riku's door behind her.

When she was gone, Riku buried his face in his hands and sighed. " Fuck . . . I can't believe it was all a dream . . . It felt so real . . ." He pulled back to gaze at his hands, remembering the feel of Sora's soft skin. For a moment he could feel it again, and the tingling sensation of their first kiss." Sora . . ." He didn't know how he would be able to control himself around Sora anymore. That dream had revealed all of his secret desires and wishes, and how much he longed for Sora. But Sora was such an innocent kid, and Riku didn't know if he would understand. And then there was Zell. Riku wondered how many dreams _he_ had of Sora already. _I don't wanna hurt Sora or Zell. I'll just try to keep my feelings under control_, he told himself. He got out of bed, stretched again, and went over to his dresser to find what he was going to wear for the day. All of the while, he thought about how mystical Sora's eyes looked in his dream. " Sora . . ." he murmured. " You are so beautiful. . ."

ooOO00OOoo

tbc

You're all gonna hate me for that . . . But it was necessary. You'll see. If I'm not back in a while with another update, it's because I need to figure out how to write the next chapter. Please excuse any errors. Somebody had a problem with the way I spelt followed. I think I spelt it fallowed? I'm sorry. My computer told me I could spell it either way XD. Stupid computer!Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, even though it was really short. I'll try to be back soon with another!

R&R! Thanks, andsee you again in the next chapter: Feelings and Suspicion!

bye!


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